Smell
Olfaction provides a particularly revealing test case for language–perception interactions, as smell is often considered difficult to verbalise. We examine whether access to richer olfactory vocabularies enhances perceptual discrimination and memory precision, and conversely, whether verbalisation can sometimes disrupt or reshape sensory recall (e.g., through verbal overshadowing effects). This work allows us to probe when language sharpens perception and when it interferes with it.