Hot and Cold Confusion

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Hot–Cold Confusion: Inverse

Thermal Sensation When Hot


and Cold Stimuli Coexist in a
Thermal Localization Task
Arai et al., 2021
Overview

• Introduction
• Methods
• Experiment 1a
• Experiment 1b
• Experiment 2
• Results
• Conclusion
• Strengths & Weakness
• Future directions
What is Known

• Thermal illusion occur when there is a gap between temperature


sensitivity and stimulus location
• Temperature sensitivity increases with spatial summation
• Limited ability for spatial discrimination in terms of thermal sensations
Thermal referral: temperature of
center stimuli is neutral but CNC
perceived same as outer stimuli
CCC

Thermal domination:
temperature of center stimuli is HCH
perceived the same as other
stimuli despite being different HHH
What is unknown

• For domination can the temperature of center stimuli affect our


perception of outer stimuli
• Does inverse thermal sensation occur only at the center location or also
at the outer location too
• Whether unequal numbers of stimuli for each temperature affect mutual
thermal sensation.
Hypotheses

• Domination hypothesis
• If the outer stimuli dominates the center stimuli, then inverse thermal
sensations at only the center will be perceived

• Mutual-effect hypothesis
• Inverse thermal sensation would occur at the outer locations and the
center when the temperature smaller in number does not dominate the
temperature larger in number.
Methods
Experiment 1a
• Participants: 15 males around 23 years
old
• Temperature of room set to 25.0°C
• Place arm on apparatus for 15 seconds
• Record temperature
• 8 trials in total, interspaced by 2-minute
intervals
Experiment 1b

• Replicated experiment 1a, but focused on more details in the results


• Examined HCH and CHC combinations
• Participants identified temperature on a detailed scale
• Reported feelings of pain
• Participants
• 15 males around 23 years old
• same requirement as experiment 1a for screening
Experiment 1b

• Procedures
• The same procedure as experiment 1a but...
• Experienced each condition 3 times
• Had to select perceived thermal sensation at each point from a 7-
point scale: very cold, cold, slightly cold (cool), null, slightly hot
(warm), hot, and very hot
• They reported feeling of pain and burning sensation at each point
• Added a neutral stimulus and had 12
combinations
Experiment 2 • Participants: 10 males around 23 years old
• Same requirement as experiment 1 for
screening
Procedures

• Participants experienced each combination three times, with one trial on


day 1 and two trials on the day 2
• Trials were randomized within each set of 12 trials to minimize order
effects
• Participants had to select their perceived sensation from five choices
(hot, warm, null, cool, or cold) for each point
• Reported feels of pain and/or burning sensations
• All other procedures mirrored those used in Experiment 1 to ensure
consistency across studies.
Results
• Experiment 1a & experiment 1b found inverse thermal sensations occurred at
one or both outer locations
• For HCH and CHC combinations, hot–cold confusion occurred at the center
and one outer location
• Hot and cold stimuli affected each other across the three locations

Experiment 1a Experiment 1b
Experiment 2
• Inverse thermal sensation was
perceived even with neutral stimulus
• Inverse thermal sensation did not
occur when neutral stimulus was
placed at the center point
• Participants perceived cold closer to
the wrist regardless of stimulus
presented
• Reports of pain and hot and cold
confusion would occur at the same
time
Pain
Reports of pain and hot and cold
confusion would occur at the
same time
In experiment 2 pain was
reported in combinations where
confusion did not occur
Conclusions

• In experiments 1a and 1b the mutual-effect hypothesis was supported


since inverse thermal sensation occurred at the outer locations as well
as at the center
• Domination effect did not occur in the experiments instead the
phenomenon hot–cold confusion occurred
• Experiment 2 showed similar results. In the combinations in which hot–
cold confusion occurred, both hot and cold stimuli were present.
• Resulting in participants incorrectly identifying locations of hot and cold
stimulus
Strengths & Weakness

• They examined a variety of stimulus in random orders


• Had wait periods before applying next stimulus

• They used the same distance and only tested on the wrist
• Participants were in the same age range and all male
• How applicable would the data be to other individuals? Would
individuals perceive heat and cold sensation differently depending on
the environment they live in?
Future directions

• More research needs to be done on the relationship between hot and


cold confusion and thermal illusions
• Future studies should also include participants of different genders and
ages and test on other body parts

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