Odors are powerful triggers of autobiographical memory, yet they often serve as weak cues in controlled associative learning tasks. This study examined whether increasing odor familiarity through training can enhance their effectiveness as associative memory cues. An experimental group first completed a four-week odor training phase in which they repeatedly smelled and rated a subset of initially low- and high-familiar odors. A control group received no such training. Both groups then performed an odor–picture paired-associate (PA) learning and then testing task.

Results showed that a 4-week odor training program, conducted weekly, significantly enhanced the efficacy of low-familiar odors in a PA memory paradigm. Specifically, trained low-familiar odors showed higher accuracy and faster reaction compared to untrained low-familiar odors in the experimental group. Low-familiar odors are thought to typically have weaker memory representations due to limited prior exposure, leading to lower accuracy and slower retrieval in memory tasks. Our results suggest that odor training, through repeated active exposure (e.g., odor-rating tasks), strengthens the cognitive and perceptual representations of low-familiar odors, thereby improving their effectiveness as cues in PA tasks.

These results highlight familiarity as a key factor in the formation and retrieval of odor-based associations. By moving odors along a continuum from novel to familiar, we can transform them into more effective memory cues. This work provides a framework for future studies comparing olfactory cue training to other sensory modalities and exploring how semantic and perceptual learning jointly determine the mnemonic power of odors.