YORK'S Jorvik centre, famous for its "historical" smells, is now being used for research into psychology.

A-level students in Lincolnshire visited the centre as part of an experiment into the links between memories and smells.

Howie Jarved, head of psychology at John Leggott College, in Scunthorpe, said the students were looking into whether the trigger of a familiar smell would bring back a forgotten memory.

The smells in the centre were used to see how well students could remember what they had seen after the visit.

Two groups of AS students took part in the experiment.

One group answered questions on the visit from a paper impregnated with an odour from the Jorvik Centre, while another had a paper which was free of smells.

Mr Jarved said the students did not find a significant link between the two, although other research had proved otherwise.

Gillian Neild, from the Jorvik Centre, said: "We are very proud of our smells, it is a big part of the centre and I think it is great that people have been using us for something as diverse as this."

Updated: 08:33 Tuesday, March 11, 2003