Active and passive movements give rise to different judgments of coldness.

When the right index fingertip of twelve subjects was moved across a cold (15 degrees C) tile by a machine (passive-guided condition), the subjects rated the temperature of the tile as being colder than when they moved the finger across the stimulus themselves (active condition). Results confirmed that active movements were associated with an attenuation of 'coldness'. When these findings are considered alongside those of earlier experiments (see VanDoorn et al, 2005 Perception 34 231 236), it may be concluded that intentionality of movement plays some role in this attenuation.