Sensory awareness versus sensory impression: Affect and attention interact to produce somatic meaning

Abstract

Contrary to the assumptions of common sense—and of some research—focusing on one's physical sensations does not necessarily make them more unpleasant. Rather, attention and affect interact to produce somatic meaning. Fifty-six male subjects exercised at 60% of their aerobic capacity with either no instructions, or instructions to closely monitor their somatic sensations. Half of each group thought they might receive an electric shock while they exercised. Subjects then listed the sensations they perceived, and indicated their degree of noticeability, their subjective unpleasantness, and their presumed cause. Monitoring subjects reported the same number of physical sensations as did the no-instruction subjects, and rated them as noticeable to the same degree. Nonetheless, monitoring produced a more negative interpretation of one's sensations under threat, but a more positive one under no threat. The findings support and extend the view of somatic experience as inherently plastic. The results also suggest that sensory attention can influence the meaning of somatic information—in both a positive and a negative direction—without necessarily imparting more of it.