Assessing tactile perception using free verbal response of native speakers of Russian [in Russian]

The paper assesses free verbal reports describing subjective sensations and emotional feelings eliciting by tactile stimuli provided using manual androbotic stimulation. Tickle (knismesis) and pleasure sensations dominated subjective responses, and tickle-related lexical units were significantly more common for stimuli of lower forces. Frequency of pleasure related words did not depend in the force of stimuly. The data prove that, at least for certain perceptual contexts, knismesis may be assosiated with positive rather than with negative emotions.