Effect of heaviness on the cognitive evaluation process

The aim of this study was to clarify how the sense of heaviness changes our cognition. According to recent studies in cognitive science, intelligent human behaviors ranging from perception to inference are not closed mental processes; rather, they are affected by body and action (Wilson, 2002; Gibbs, 2005; Proffitt, 2006). In previous studies, the sense of heaviness activated concepts metaphorically related to heaviness, and changed impressions accordingly. However, previous studies have not distinguished between subjective heaviness and physical weight. The purpose of this study was to clarify whether changes in impressions are due to subjective heaviness or physical weight. To examine this issue, a psychological experiment using a tasting task was conducted. The results confirmed that subjective heaviness influences evaluations of price and value.