The power of a light touch on the arm

A good-looking man approached 120 women in a night club over a period of three weeks, and asked them to dance. It was in the name of science – the man was an assistant to the psychologist Nicolas Guegen. Remarkably, of the 60 women who he touched lightly on the arm, 65 per cent agreed to a dance, compared with just 43 per cent of the 60 women who he asked without making any physical contact.

A second study involved three male research assistants approaching 240 women in the street and asking them for their phone numbers. Among those 120 women who the researchers touched lightly on the arm, 19 per cent agreed to share their number, compared with 10 per cent of the women with whom no physical contact was made.

Guegen says that when men make this light touch on the women's arms, they are perceived as more dominant which is an attractive trait associated with status.

To test this, more women were asked for their phone numbers in the street. Again, half were touched on the arm and half were not. After the male researchers had done their bit, a female researcher approached the women and asked them questions about the men. Supporting Guegen's explanation, the women who had been touched on the arm tended to rate the male researcher who had approached them as more attractive and more dominant.

This study was conducted in France, and Guegen cautioned the findings might not translate to other cultures. “It is possible that in a non-contact culture, the effect of touch in a courtship relation would be perceived negatively by women,” he said.

This is not the first time psychological research has revealed the social effects of physical touch. Other studies have shown, for example, that when observers view a picture of one person touching another, they perceive the “toucher” to be more dominant than the “touchee”. Yet another study found waiters and waitresses who touched customers lightly on the arm, were perceived more positively than those who made no physical contact.
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Guegen, N. (2007). Courtship compliance: The effect of touch on women's behaviour. Social Influence, 2, 81-97.

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A flicker of light in a sea of darkness

There's a scene in John Bayley's memoir of the late, great Iris Murdoch, in which he recalls her saying to a friend “I see an angel. I think it's you.” Murdoch had recently developed Alzheimer's Disease and the friend in question was helping her shower. Such moments of lucidity can be like a flicker of light in a sea of darkness to the relatives and friends of people suffering from dementia. They are also of interest to scientists and clinicians seeking to understand how the mind is affected by the ravages of disease.

Now David Hawkins and Neill Graff-Radford at the Mayo Clinic have reported the case of an 81-year-old lady suffering from probable Alzheimer's disease, who despite severe cognitive difficulties and widespread brain atrophy, has retained the ability to pun.

For example, in response to hearing her son say “Dad let's charge up the battery for your new phone”, the patient said “Are you going to charge him for that?”

After her son said “That dinner was great, but I'm really full,” the patient replied “It was a very fulfilling meal”. These and many other examples were recorded by the woman's son over a period of three hours and were said to be representative of her conversational style. Moreover, the lady seems to realise she's being witty – she laughs after making these remarks and admits to being very good at punning.

Prior to her illness, although she was humourous and quick-witted, the lady's verbal humour was not anywhere near so prolific. It's almost as though the disease has unlocked this ability in her.

“Interactions with patients such as the 81-year-old female discussed in this report serve to remind professionals working in this area that each individual is unique and may possess abilities that are remarkable in the presence of extensive degenerative neurological findings,” the authors said. “Focusing on such positive attributes can be helpful not only for the patient but also for the family members in dealing with the difficulties of AD.”
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Hawkins, D.B. & Graff-Radford, N.R. (2007). The ability to pun may be retained in Alzheimer Disease. Neurocase, 13, 50-54.

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