Abstract
M.Com. (Industrial Psychology)
Traditional experimental psychology and cognitive science have regarded the mind as an abstract information processor that places little importance on the connections to the surrounding environment (Bilda, Candy, & Edmonds, 2007). Contemporary research into the functioning of the mind, however, has discovered the essential role that the body plays in constructing perceptual and mental processes. This is known as embodied cognition, which holds that cognitive processes and even intelligence are deeply embedded in the body’s interactions with the environment, as a result of sensory motor activity (Barsalou, 2008; Jostmann, Lakens, & Schubert, 2009; Smith & Gasser, 2005; Wilson, 2002). As such, even haptic sensations such as touch could have an effect on the way individuals perceive and process information. Touch may even have an effect on the way people judge themselves (Ackerman, Nocera, & Bargh, 2010). This is the focus of the current study.
The work of Ackerman and et al. (2010) is a recent and seminal study that also provides the guidance for this particular study, which aims to determine whether haptic sensations (in particular the touch sensation of the physical questionnaire) have an effect on the self-judgements of individuals completing a personality questionnaire.
In this chapter the following will be considered: the background and rationale for the study; a problem statement presented in the form of a research question; research objectives; and an overview of the metatheory that forms the basis of the study. The latter will also be linked to the rationale of this study.