Sensation_The New Science of Physical Intelligence

by Thalma Lobel

  Abstract concepts may become grounded in our sensory-motor experiences when physical sensations activate specific areas in the brain. If physical sensations are in fact the building blocks of abstract knowledge and metaphorical expressions are born from sensory-motor inspiration, then the same brain regions that are activated during the tactile physical sensation (rough-smooth, hard-soft) will be activated when we use the corresponding metaphors (rough relationships, hard day). On the other hand, if abstract concepts are not grounded in our sensory experiences and metaphors are just random flourishes of speech, then different areas of the brain will be activated when we touch a rough object and when we use the metaphor rough day. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers recently examined this exact question.12

  The fMRI scanner measures the change in blood flow to neurons in different parts of the brain, which indicates that those areas are working on information they’re receiving. This machine allows researchers to examine the activity of the brain during cognitive and emotional behaviors such as judgment, decision making, problem solving, memorizing, and reading various types of texts, among others.

  In this recent study the researchers chose fifty-four sentences that contained tactile metaphors—such as “She had a rough day”—and paired them with sentences with the same meaning but without the metaphors, such as “She had a bad day.” Participants lay in the scanner while wearing headphones through which the various sentences were read to them. The researchers found that the brain regions that were activated when the participants heard sentences with texture metaphors were the same brain regions that are activated when people sense texture through touch.

  These results provide evidence that the brain processes metaphors in the same areas that it “feels” or notices specific sensory input. These areas are not activated when we process sentences that have the same meaning but don’t use tactile metaphors.

  To Shave or Not to Shave?

  Life is a series of negotiations. These findings have real-world implications for business negotiations. Consider the types of chairs on which you and your opposition sit during an important negotiation. If the chair is soft, there is a better chance that the person who sits on it will be more flexible and more likely to change an initial attitude or offer. But if you’re sitting in cold, hard chairs, you’re likely to see each other as unfriendly and unyielding.

  But the implications go beyond chairs, of course. Think of all the things we hold in our hands. We make contact with so many objects, and we do not even realize it. I always carry my handbag, and it is usually soft. I sometimes put it aside, but more often I keep it in one of my hands. In contrast, we often come to business meetings with our computers, holding these hard objects during the whole meeting. Might they be predisposing us to take hard lines in a discussion? Another hard object we often hold is our phone, though its case might be smooth, rough, or a little padded. Does a smooth case make us more relaxed when using our phones to talk with our family and friends?

  We also have to negotiate daily with our children, spouses, coworkers, and even friends. We have to determine how many hours kids will get to use the computer or watch TV, at what time they will go to bed, how much money they can spend, and their curfew after a party. We discuss with our spouses the family budget, vacation plans, and how to raise the kids. At work, we evaluate projects, contracts, terms and conditions, hiring and firing; we negotiate with customers and fight for benefits.

  When we negotiate, sometimes we are soft, even too soft, and on other occasions we are hard, even too hard. Have you ever decided not to budge on bedtime but later changed your position? Do you usually stand your ground, ignoring the other person’s arguments? The embodied cognition studies suggest that our perceptions of a situation can be influenced by simple contact with rough or smooth, soft or hard objects in the environment. Our attitudes can change when we use smooth things, such as velvety towels, or rough ones, such as coarse sheets. It is not news that smoothly ironed linen sheets are pleasant to the touch, but this research suggests that the smoothness of the sheets might affect how you feel about your significant other who joins you in bed. To help smooth over any tensions from the day, you might even shave your face or legs or wear nightclothes made of soft, silky fabrics for that extra nudge of influence.

  In domestic life, these results might help us with our children, who like soft toys. Psychologists call security objects, such as blankets or soft toys to which young children develop attachments, “transitional objects.” These objects enhance children’s feelings of security and reduce their anxiety, especially in unfamiliar or scary situations. Simply touching soft objects, not even necessarily transitional objects, might soften children’s behavior and perceptions of situations. Think about that the next time you buy your child or grandchild a toy.

  Older children might also benefit from touching soft objects. Indeed, I often hear from school psychologists and teachers about their creative efforts to help children with attention deficit or behavioral problems. One of their methods is to let the children touch, squeeze, and play with soft objects such as squishy balls during class, which, these professionals believe, improves the children’s concentration and reduces aggression.

  A psychologist friend of mine had a therapist, whom she adored, who always held a cat during their sessions. In the beginning it bothered my friend a bit since she is not a cat person, but she got used to it and went to that therapist for years. She found the therapist to be an extremely accepting, nonjudgmental, and empathetic woman who always saw the good side, even when a situation was quite difficult. No doubt these qualities reflected her empathetic and soft personality, but did her behavior have anything to do with the fact that she was petting the soft fur of her cat?

  Animals are sometimes used in the therapeutic process to help patients improve their social and emotional skills.13 There is no doubt that interacting with and taking care of live animals have positive influences on us. Studies have demonstrated that the simple act of petting and touching animals lowers heart rate and blood pressure, reduces stress and anxiety, and aids relaxation.14 If you should consider adopting a pet, think not only of the additional responsibilities but also of the benefits pets will bring to the whole family. All you have to do is pet their soft coats to bring out their own soft nature—and yours.

  Don’t Take This Lightly: The Importance of Weight

  I am a psychologist, not a weight lifter, but, believe it or not, the decision to write this book came to me while I was in the gym “pumping iron.” Nothing crazy, just the basic resistance training I do several times a week in order to stay healthy and fit. Unlike professional weight lifters, who are extremely focused on their movements, I let my thoughts wander while performing my repetitions. Writing a book had been on my mind for a long time, but suddenly for some reason, on that particular day, in between leg curls, I knew I had to do it. I realized how important it was for me to present the amazing findings that have accumulated in recent years about how physical sensations affect our emotions and behavior.

  But why did I think about it then, rather than while I was lying in bed or walking down the street? Is it possible that any issue seems more important to us when we think about it while carrying a heavy object?

  You could say I had been weighing my options. Language reflects metaphorical association of importance with physical weight. Weighing our options means we’re considering what is best for us to do. We might ask someone else to weigh in, if his or her opinion carries a lot of weight for us. Weight is serious. We describe decisions as heavy when they have important consequences. We say that someone important throws his weight around. We say that negativity weighs us down, and we call our problems burdens. We feel encumbered when others are relying on us, and we feel relief when someone helps us and takes the weight off our shoulders. A classic example is the ancient image of Atlas the Titan, his every sinew and tendon straining to hold up the Earth on his back, the fate of humanity de
pendent on him carrying the weight of the world.

  These metaphors are not just figures of speech. Their abstract concepts are grounded in our physical sensations, and our concept of importance specifically is anchored to our physical experience of feeling weight.

  Several groups of researchers investigating embodiment crafted experiments that examined the association between physical weight and importance.1 In one experiment, the participants were asked to evaluate a job candidate based on a résumé. All participants received the same résumé, but half of them received it on a clipboard that weighed only three-quarters of a pound, while the other half, the “heavy group,” got the résumé on a four-and-a-half-pound clipboard. Those who received the heavy clipboard rated the candidate as better qualified, with a more serious interest in the position.

  There was no difference between the two groups when they were asked whether the candidate was sociable and would get along with his coworkers. The physical weight affected only the participants’ judgment of traits related to performance and seriousness. The heavier clipboard had a powerful influence, but it was limited to perceptions of seriousness and qualifications.

  For the second experiment, the researchers ventured outside the university. They asked passersby on the street to complete a survey about funding for various public issues and to indicate whether each cause should receive more or less funding than the others. The survey included issues of general importance, such as education and air pollution, alongside more specialized issues, such as postal workers’ salaries and the hardly pressing question of the regulation of public bathroom sinks. As before, half of the participants filled out this survey on a light clipboard, weighing 1.0 pound, and the other half on a heavy clipboard, weighing 3.4 pounds.

  The heavy clipboard was influential again, but this time only men were affected by which clipboard they held, and only when judging the general issues. Women wanted to fund the social issues no matter how heavy or light the clipboard they held. Men, on the other hand, felt that the general issues were of greater importance when they were holding the heavier board. For them, the physical weight of the clipboard influenced the metaphorical weight they gave to the various issues. Studies have shown that women are more supportive of funding social welfare, health, and education and of policies for disadvantaged groups.2 They believed that social issues should be funded, and therefore the weight of the clipboard did not influence their decision. In contrast, men, who are relatively less concerned with social issues, were influenced by the heavier clipboard.

  A group of Dutch researchers asked a large group of students to fill out questionnaires that estimated the value of various foreign currencies.3 Here, too, half of the participants filled out their questionnaires on light clipboards, 1.45 pounds, while the other half used clipboards weighing 2.29 pounds. The students who held the heavier clipboards valued the various currencies significantly higher than the students who held the lighter clipboards. Weight in their hands added “weight” to the currencies.

  In a second experiment, these researchers asked students to read a scenario about a university committee that made decisions regarding grants to students who travel abroad; the committee did not let students express their opinions about the decisions. Participants were asked how important it was to them that the students be allowed to express their opinions before the committee. All participants answered standing up, holding the questionnaire on a clipboard; half of them were given a heavy clipboard and the other half a lighter one. Compared with those who held a light clipboard, participants who held a heavy clipboard said it was more important for the committee to consider the students’ input. Again, the weight of the clipboard influenced their judgments.

  As a dean of students and a member of the executive board of my university, I dealt with the grants given to students and with students’ requests to participate in university decisions, especially the decisions that directly affected them. After all, the size of a grant and the way it is distributed directly affect a student’s life and academic career. Based on my experience with students, I would have thought that most of them would say that any committee needs to listen to the students it serves, regardless of the weight of the clipboard they were holding. However, these results together with the results of the other studies clearly suggest that without our awareness, we associate importance with heavy weight.

  These studies also demonstrate that the association between importance and physical weight is not only semantic but an actual part of our connected, scaffolded experience of the world. The sensation of physical weight, by triggering interconnected mental and emotional associations, influences our opinions about value, importance, and seriousness.

  Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover (Judge It by Its Weight!)

  So heavy things influence our importance judgments. To put it like a scientist, the sensation of heavy weight activates the abstract concept of importance, and consequently leads to attribution of importance. Does this association flow both ways? Does the abstract concept of importance influence our perception of an object’s weight? A group of Dutch researchers investigated this very question.4 They conducted their research in two parts. In the first study they asked participants to hold a book in their hands and estimate its weight. All participants were told that this book was used by the faculty, but half of the students were told that it was an important book, whereas the other half were not told anything about its importance. Compared with those who heard nothing about importance, the students who were told that the book was important estimated it as heavier.

  The researchers then wanted to explore whether this association between importance and weight would be found if the participants only looked at the book. So they ran the experiment a second time and created a control group that simply looked at the book. They found that only students who were holding the book were influenced by being told it was “important.” The weight-importance connection wasn’t activated unless the participants were holding the book in their hands. These results demonstrate that the abstract concept of importance is embodied in the physical sensation of weight.

  Taken with the previous studies, these findings show that the association between importance and weight is bidirectional. Physical weight activates importance, and the concept of importance activates the physical sensation of weight. These findings can shed light on some of our behaviors. Do backpackers who travel the world with their possessions on their backs consider their experiences more significant because they are carrying a heavy weight? Would they feel the same if they were traveling light? If you carry a lot of paperwork home with you every day in a heavy briefcase, are you more likely to feel burdened at home, unavailable to your family?.

  These findings have other implications too. Let’s start with résumés—this research shows that stationery matters. Of course, the content of a résumé has a significant weight (metaphorically, of course), and if a person is not qualified for a job, the actual physical weight of the résumé probably won’t help. But in many cases there are a lot of qualified candidates for a job, and the interviewer must choose a few résumés that seem the most promising, since it is usually impossible to interview all the qualified applicants. Now that you know that the heavier something is, the more important it seems subconsciously, using heavier-weight stationery seems like a good thing to do to influence a potential employer. Sometimes all you need is the slightest edge to get over the top—and creative use of the influence of weight could do that for you.

  These findings might bother you, of course, because we would really like to believe that job candidates are judged on their merit alone. Unfortunately, however, we know that this is often not the case, and that factors like gender, sexual orientation, age, and race, for example, can bias our decisions, including those about hiring. Could the weight of the paper you use for your résumé really cost you a job or make you more likely to be hired? The psychological concept of bias can refer to anything that influences a person’s judgme
nt in a certain direction, however subtle and unconscious that influence might be. Today many résumés are sent by e-mail, and for documents read on a computer screen, physical weight is not an issue. This may help to equalize the field, but perhaps sending in your résumé physically—printed on good-quality paper—to support your online application would still make a difference in how you are perceived. After all, the physical presence of your résumé could give you more weight in the mind of the evaluator.

  As a psychology professor who has been grading papers for almost thirty years, I have asked myself after learning of these findings if I could have been influenced by the weight of the paper students used. I’m in the habit of reading while sitting down and holding the paper in my hands rather than setting it on the desk. Psychology is not mathematics, and the grade is ultimately my subjective evaluation of the ideas presented in the paper and the way the work is written. If, without my noticing, I was psychologically influenced by the physical weight of the papers, that would be ironic. Who knows—perhaps I gave a grade of A– to a student who might otherwise have merited a B+ because the assignment was handed in on heavier, smoother paper.