Physiological and Psychological Parameters of Human Touch Page: 29
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29
A rating scale which contains items on both positive
and negative affect was employed to measure psychological
effects (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). To measure
physiological effects, heart rate and skin temperature were
employed as appropriate indices of sympathetic arousal and,
as Mahoney (1990) has noted, system disorganization.
The present study contrasted individuals who were not
touched at all with individuals who were touched for a
"logical" reason with individuals who were touched for an
"illogical" reason. Forehead touch was used since it was
discovered to be more comfortable for subjects than many
other places on the body (Tuan, Heslin, & Nquyen, 1975) and
since both rational and irrational explanations for being
touched on the forehead could be readily offered. Since the
role of gender in touch is not clear, only female
participants and female researchers were utilized. It is
recognized that while these conditions may limit the
generalizability of the results, the major purpose for this
study was to provide more basic, sound information about the
effects of touch, and that this goal would be attained if
the study had fewer confounds.
Two experimental hypotheses were proposed:
Hypothesis 1: Persons who are touched, for whatever
reason, will display greater psychological and physiological
reactivity than persons in similar circumstances who are not
touched. Reactivity was defined as individual differences
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Kohl, Rita Ann. Physiological and Psychological Parameters of Human Touch, dissertation, August 1992; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332744/m1/36/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .