Temperature-touch interactions: Is there a reverse Weber phenomenon?

Abstract

Recent studies have confirmed and extended the 19th-century observations of E. H. Weber that concomitant cold can intensify the apparent heaviness of tactile pressure stimulation. These studies have also shown that concomitant warm can also intensify pressure sensation in some regions of the body. The question arises whether pressure can intensify thermal sensations under comparable conditions of stimulation. Subjects made magnitude estimations of the thermal sensations aroused at eight different temperatures and at three different forces. Estimated thermal sensation turned out to be independent of the force level. Such an outcome strengthens the argument against the hypothesis that thermal intensification represents a central summation of thermal and tactile sensations. © 1982, The Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.