What sense experience triggers the strongest memory?

What sense experience triggers the strongest memory?

  • Smell

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Touch

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Taste

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sight

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sound

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

Olds442

Active Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2005
Messages
443
Location
NY USA
Just curious.
For instance, last night I was getting gas for my vehicle and got some on my fingers. I smelled the fuel and it immediatly brought me back to a time when I was elbow deep in grease fixing brakes or replacing a carborator.
Another instance would have been when I was out walking and it was really cold. Somebody had a wood fire going and the smell of the fire in the cold brought me back to a skiing vacation I was at and the smell of the warm lodge fire.

I asked a couple of people I know and some said hearing a song did it for them, while another said that seeing an image reminded them of some place/time. Others said touching an object gave them found memories.
 
Interesting topic (at first I thought it said strongest mammories :lol: )

I really can't think of one thing, though I guess the best would be hearing someone tell a story. Usually if I listen to someone else talking about something or about a certain person I may recall something from my past which is slightly related.


That's a lot of somes...
 
Definitely smell. When a girl passes by with the same perfume as an ex-girlfriend ;)

It's also scientifically proven and it's not un-logic, when you think of fermones (sp?) that are used to attract a mating partner (with animals, but also with people: you like the smell of the people that have a completely different immune system, so your immune systems are complements for your children)
 
definately sound

all special events have their own song, which, when i hear it, remind me of it instantly

(but mosty they are crappy songs, like every time i hear "don't you wish" by the pussycat dolls, i have to think at the time i was driving around belgium in a 206 for my job...best job i've had)
 
Definitely smell for the maximum take-you-back effect. Even if it's some event or place that was many years ago, and if I have truly forgotten what it smelled like, if I smell something similar I will instantly remember the original event or place.

For instance, there's a friend of mine who I haven't seen or visited in nearly six years, but this one hallway in my uni smells like his house. I walked through that hallway one day, and the memory of my friend came back so hard I could almost feel it smack me in the face.
 
I'd say Sound. I listen to alot of music, i alwayse have my iPod with me so i tend to tie events with what music is being played.
 
YF19pilot said:
Interesting topic (at first I thought it said strongest mammories :lol: )

:lol:
That's the next poll. "What reminds you of strong mammories?"
 
Sound for me.

I had these "flashbacks" as well, whenever I hear some song I like (or even don't) it sometimes pops to my head where did I listen to it (not heard, but listened) for first time or for last time. Even if it happened like 4 years ago, I can remember that I was in that car, driving at that place, at that time...

Never had a good visual memory, I can hardly recognize faces sometimes :)
 
Smell has been proven to trigger or start the most memories. Its proven, but I can't find an article.
 
^^ Yeah, I seem to recall reading somewhere that smell triggers the strongest memories, and it definitely does for me.
 
Smell for sure.
 
I voted sound. Ever hear a song playing in the background during some big event, or afterwards? You come to associate that song with it. The most striking example is usually when somebody breaks up with or gets rejected by a member of the opposite sex; every time you hear that song afterwards, you agonize for days. At least that's me, anyway.

Junior prom ruined "Stairway to Heaven" for me; now I can't stand it.
 
BlaRo said:
I voted sound. Ever hear a song playing in the background during some big event, or afterwards? You come to associate that song with it. The most striking example is usually when somebody breaks up with or gets rejected by a member of the opposite sex; every time you hear that song afterwards, you agonize for days. At least that's me, anyway.

Junior prom ruined "Stairway to Heaven" for me; now I can't stand it.

I agree, I associate albums I listen to with what I was doing when I first listened to the album. So lets say I listened to album x while playing CSS, then the next time I listen to that album it will remind me of CSS. However, smell yields a better memory reflex than sound.
 
Smell. By far. Triggers memories of places I went to 15 years ago.
 
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