| Sumario: | The writer reviews the psychological literature on olfactory memory and discusses the relationship between this and other types of memory. Although the literature on olfactory memory has expanded rapidly since the mid-1970s, it has remained relatively independent of mainstream memory research. In addition, it has focused principally on the Proustian characteristics of smell, which describe odor memory as being unique from other memory types, independent of memory in other modalities, and resistant to interference and, thus, longlasting. The literature reveals that models of memory that are intended to be general have taken insufficient account of findings from olfaction and other sensory modalities. This approach may be viewed as symptomatic of a dangerous tendency to base allegedly general theories on databases that are too narrow.
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