The smell of coffee can help you crack the GMAT: study

Photo for representation only. – Thimkstock.

Washington, 18 July

The smell of coffee alone can help people perform better in the badytic part of GMAT (Graduate Management Aptitude Test), a computer adaptation test required by many business schools. .
The work, led by Professor Adriana Madzharov of Stevens Institute of Technology in the United States, not only highlights the hidden strength of odor and cognitive stimulation that it can bring to badytical tasks, but also hope that students will succeed better.
"It's not just that the smell of coffee has helped people perform better in badytical tasks, which was already interesting, but they also thought that they would do better," he said. Mr. Madzharov.
"We have demonstrated that this expectation was at least partly responsible for improving their performance," she said.
Feeling a coffee-like scent, which has no caffeine, has an effect similar to that of drinking coffee, suggesting a placebo effect of the smell of coffee, the researchers said.
In his work published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, Madzharov and his team administered a GMAT algebra test of 10 questions in a computer lab to about 100 undergraduate business students, split into two groups.
One group took the test in the presence of a coffee-type ambient scent, while a control group took the same test – but in an unscented room.
They found that the group in the room smelling of coffee scored significantly higher on the test.
The team designed a follow-up survey of over 200 new participants, asking them about their beliefs about various smells and their perceived effects on human performance.
Participants believed that they would feel more alert and energetic in the presence of a coffee scent, as opposed to a flower scent or no smell; and that exposure to coffee scent would increase their performance on mental tasks.
The results suggest that expectations about performance can be explained by the beliefs that the smell of coffee alone makes people more alert and energetic.
Mr. Madzharov is investigating whether coffee smells can have a similar effect on other types of performance, such as verbal reasoning.
She also says that the discovery – that the smell of coffee acts as a placebo for badytical reasoning performance – has many practical applications, including several for businesses.
"The olfaction is one of our most powerful senses: employers, architects, property developers, commercial space managers and others can use subtle fragrances to shape the l?" experience of employees or occupants, "said Madzharov. – PTI.