What’s in a name? Role of verbal context in touch

Can a name (i.e., verbal context) change how we react to and perceive an
object? This question has been addressed several times for chemosensory
objects, but never for touch. To address this, two studies were run. In
each, we allocated participants to a Positive, Neutral or Negative Group,
and asked them to touch the same four objects, twice – first, named by the
experimenter according to their Group-name, and second, named by the
participant. Participants were timed as they touched and rated the objects
on pleasantness and disgust. Negative-named objects were touched for
shorter durations, and rated more negatively, than neutral-named objects,
and positive-named objects were touched for the longest and rated most
positively. In the second presentation, most objects (>90%) were
named by participants in accord with their assigned Group-names. The
similarity of these findings to chemosensory verbal context effects and
their mechanistic basis is discussed.