Read the short article “Sex Differences in Smell” and answer the following questions.

Sean wears two particular colognes to work. He likes to alternate between the two colognes. Mary one of Sean’s co-workers always knows when Sean has walked into a room because of his cologne.

Have you noticed a difference in sense of smell between the sexes? Why do you think women typically have a keener sense of smell?

Use, bold AND define 2 key terms from “Ch. 4: Communicating, Perceiving, and Understanding” in your answer.

• 5 points for answering all questions in 5-7 sentences
• 5 points for using 2 key terms, define the terms and bolding them
• 5 points for responding to two peers in 5-7 sentences responses

Be ready to respond your classmates in one or more of the following ways:

• Build on something your classmates said.
• Explain why and how you see things differently.
• Ask a probing or clarifying question.
• Share an insight from having read your classmates’ postings.
• Offer and support an opinion.
• Validate an idea with your own experience.
• Expand on your classmates’ postings.

Communication In Society

Sex Differences in Smell

Have you noticed a difference in sense of smell between the sexes? Why do you think women typically have a keener sense of smell?

Did you know that scientists often use all-female panels when they look for objective descriptions of food based on sensory perception, such as taste, smell, and appearance? They do so because on standard tests of smelling ability—including odor detection, discrimination, and identification—women consistently outscore men. One researcher has claimed that this difference is evident even in newborn babies.

Age also influences an individual’s sense of smell. A study that tested 3,282 participants found that, overall, one’s sense of smell was most acute between the ages of 19 and 35 and was the least acute when one is older than 55. However, in all of the three tests conducted, women out performed men. Other studies have shown that women also rate the sense of smell as being more important to them than do men.

Experiments that have examined men’s and women’s scent ability reveal that both sexes are able to recognize others from their body odor alone. In an experiment at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, childless women held an unrelated baby in their arms for an hour. When tested later to see if they could recognize the baby they had held by scent, most of them were successful. This study did not test men, so it isn’t clear if men possess similar smell recognition ability for unfamiliar others. However, other tests have determined that men and women both can recognize their own children or spouses by their scent. Typically in these studies, participants’ children or spouses wore a T-shirt for several days, and then the participants were asked to use scent to recognize the T-shirt belonging to their family memb