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The Last Word
JANUARY 1989, VOL.49, NO 1
AORN JOURNAL
The Last Word
0 The senses play a fundamental role in our perception of the world. The business world spends millions of dollars trying to convince us to buy almost everything based on emotion rather than logic. Now researchers are sniffing around for scents that can make cents for them. According to The Wall Street Journal, researchers are searching for emotion-eliciting scents to add to their lotions that will make sunbathing teenagers feel sexier than with any other lotion. And the company that develops the right potion could have the edge in selling smell. Teenagers described how they felt (ie, irritated, indifferent) before sniffing the scented lotion. Then they were asked to pretend they were lying on a beach and describe how they felt. Researchers hope that by mapping the effects of odors on the brain they will learn why one scent makes people feel sexy while another makes them sleepy. Their goal is to design products that elicit specific emotions. Critics, on the other hand, compare the quest for effective mood fragrances to huckstering snake oil. And they contend that the affect scents have on mood comes partly through the memories that they evoke. They say that the effect of each scent may vary from person to person. If this is the case, researchers should pay attention to a companion article in the Wall Street Journal that reveals that favorite smells may be set in infancy. For years, baby-product manufacturers have believed that babies could not distinguishbetween pleasant and unpleasant odors. Smell preferences were thought to develop at about five or six years of age. Consequently, researchers 458
concentrated on developing scents that pleased mothers. New research indicates, however, that babies at nine months of age respond negatively to rattles scented with smelly foot odor and respond positively to rattles scented with wintergreen. Researchers now think that early experiences with scents form early attachments to that scent that go on throughout the person’s life. Some marketers speculate that certain perfumes such as Obsession and Shalimur may be popular because their heavy, sweet smell draws the wearer back to the days of baby powder. According to one marketing executive, “it all goes back to the universal American experience of baby powder.” Maybe researchers will find that baby oil makes you feel secure and strained peas elicit anger. Hopefully, they will not find a scent that makes teenagers feel sexier.
0 One of the six senses, sound, has been used in the O R by surgical personnel, and now it is gaining popularity as a method for soothing patients undergoing surgical procedures. An AORN member, Brenda Larson, RN, of Mayers Memorial Hospital, Fall River Mills, Calif, wrote to tell us that her O R has a small selection of classical audiocassette tapes that are played during surgery. During a recent orchiectomy procedure, which was being done under local anesthesia, the circulating nurse chose a tape at random and placed it in the tape player. The patient, a goodnatured fellow, began laughing and said, “How appropriate!” as strains of The Nutcracker Suite filled the room.
AORN JOURNAL
The Last Word
0 The senses play a fundamental role in our perception of the world. The business world spends millions of dollars trying to convince us to buy almost everything based on emotion rather than logic. Now researchers are sniffing around for scents that can make cents for them. According to The Wall Street Journal, researchers are searching for emotion-eliciting scents to add to their lotions that will make sunbathing teenagers feel sexier than with any other lotion. And the company that develops the right potion could have the edge in selling smell. Teenagers described how they felt (ie, irritated, indifferent) before sniffing the scented lotion. Then they were asked to pretend they were lying on a beach and describe how they felt. Researchers hope that by mapping the effects of odors on the brain they will learn why one scent makes people feel sexy while another makes them sleepy. Their goal is to design products that elicit specific emotions. Critics, on the other hand, compare the quest for effective mood fragrances to huckstering snake oil. And they contend that the affect scents have on mood comes partly through the memories that they evoke. They say that the effect of each scent may vary from person to person. If this is the case, researchers should pay attention to a companion article in the Wall Street Journal that reveals that favorite smells may be set in infancy. For years, baby-product manufacturers have believed that babies could not distinguishbetween pleasant and unpleasant odors. Smell preferences were thought to develop at about five or six years of age. Consequently, researchers 458
concentrated on developing scents that pleased mothers. New research indicates, however, that babies at nine months of age respond negatively to rattles scented with smelly foot odor and respond positively to rattles scented with wintergreen. Researchers now think that early experiences with scents form early attachments to that scent that go on throughout the person’s life. Some marketers speculate that certain perfumes such as Obsession and Shalimur may be popular because their heavy, sweet smell draws the wearer back to the days of baby powder. According to one marketing executive, “it all goes back to the universal American experience of baby powder.” Maybe researchers will find that baby oil makes you feel secure and strained peas elicit anger. Hopefully, they will not find a scent that makes teenagers feel sexier.
0 One of the six senses, sound, has been used in the O R by surgical personnel, and now it is gaining popularity as a method for soothing patients undergoing surgical procedures. An AORN member, Brenda Larson, RN, of Mayers Memorial Hospital, Fall River Mills, Calif, wrote to tell us that her O R has a small selection of classical audiocassette tapes that are played during surgery. During a recent orchiectomy procedure, which was being done under local anesthesia, the circulating nurse chose a tape at random and placed it in the tape player. The patient, a goodnatured fellow, began laughing and said, “How appropriate!” as strains of The Nutcracker Suite filled the room.