omnifeller
TMF Master
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2005
- Messages
- 933
- Points
- 18
I always thought UCSD professor Christine Harris was the only one to do any significant research on tickling, but I came across these recently (copy+paste the links into your browser to see the articles):
"Right-sided asymmetry in sensitivity to tickle"
doi.org/10.1080/713754413
These researchers found that the right foot is significantly more ticklish than the left, when tickled with a "pointed nylon rod". An excerpt from the article, since it is behind a paywall:
"Subjects then completed a questionnaire devised to
determine attitudes to tickle (Fridlund & Loftis, 1990). The questionnaire used
eight of the nine items, and item 8 (‘‘I blush easily’’) was replaced by the item
‘‘I find that being tickled is painful’’. Subjects were then seated, shoes and socks
removed from both feet, while one of the investigators (JLS) applied the tickle
stimuli. Three tickle strokes were made over 3 seconds: forward, backward, and
forward synchronised with a metronome beat set at one-second intervals. The
tickle stimulus was applied to one foot, followed, within one minute, by the
same stimulus applied to the other foot."
"Laterality of Tickle Sensation Produced by Self-Stimulation"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2466/27.CP.4.17
These researchers concluded that the self-tickle sensation was stronger when using the opposite hand to tickle the opposite foot. Reactions were rated by the subjects as well as by observers. Notably, according to the researchers, "this was the first experimental study, to our knowledge, to find evidence of sex differences in tickle responses." Looking at tables 1 and 2, the women had consistently higher ticklishness ratings. I don't think this proves women are more ticklish than men; rather, men are often pressured socially to react less to things. Also, as the researchers noted, they only had female experimenters, which could have affected the readouts.
Personally, I don't think either of these studies had a large enough sample size to draw conclusions on the whole human race, but found the articles to be entertaining reads. Let me know your thoughts!
"Right-sided asymmetry in sensitivity to tickle"
doi.org/10.1080/713754413
These researchers found that the right foot is significantly more ticklish than the left, when tickled with a "pointed nylon rod". An excerpt from the article, since it is behind a paywall:
"Subjects then completed a questionnaire devised to
determine attitudes to tickle (Fridlund & Loftis, 1990). The questionnaire used
eight of the nine items, and item 8 (‘‘I blush easily’’) was replaced by the item
‘‘I find that being tickled is painful’’. Subjects were then seated, shoes and socks
removed from both feet, while one of the investigators (JLS) applied the tickle
stimuli. Three tickle strokes were made over 3 seconds: forward, backward, and
forward synchronised with a metronome beat set at one-second intervals. The
tickle stimulus was applied to one foot, followed, within one minute, by the
same stimulus applied to the other foot."
"Laterality of Tickle Sensation Produced by Self-Stimulation"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2466/27.CP.4.17
These researchers concluded that the self-tickle sensation was stronger when using the opposite hand to tickle the opposite foot. Reactions were rated by the subjects as well as by observers. Notably, according to the researchers, "this was the first experimental study, to our knowledge, to find evidence of sex differences in tickle responses." Looking at tables 1 and 2, the women had consistently higher ticklishness ratings. I don't think this proves women are more ticklish than men; rather, men are often pressured socially to react less to things. Also, as the researchers noted, they only had female experimenters, which could have affected the readouts.
Personally, I don't think either of these studies had a large enough sample size to draw conclusions on the whole human race, but found the articles to be entertaining reads. Let me know your thoughts!
:
