Neuroscientist Artin Arshamian and his team sought to determine what affects a person’s perception of an odor as pleasant: is it culture, personal taste, or aspects of human anatomy? The team assessed odor preferences in ten groups of people with different modes of living (urban, agricultural, and hunter-gatherer) including the Maniq people from a small community in Thailand and the Seri people from a small community in Mexico. The team observed that across cultures, people generally rated odors about the same: ethyl butyrate, which smells like peaches, was typically rated more pleasant than diethyl disulfide, which smells like garlic. The team’s study thus undermined the idea that
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Verbal·Information and Ideas·Inferences
mediumWhich choice most logically completes the text?
A
a person who perceives certain odors as pleasant will likely perceive the odors as roughly equal in pleasantness.
B
culture significantly influences whether a person perceives an odor as pleasant or unpleasant.
C
personal taste has little influence on whether odors are perceived as pleasant or unpleasant.
D
people agree in their perception of odors as pleasant or unpleasant regardless of where they live.