[pp.97-106]

Differences in the Psychological Effects between the Experience of Seeing Plants Foliage and that of Touching and Seeing

Kazuko KOGA and Yutaka IWASAKI （Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University）

Abstract:
Most of our daily therapeutic experiences from plants are visual experiences, which can be evidenced by the introduction of imitation plants to our residential or business spaces. Some previous studies have reported that even imitation plants are able to give people a good impression. Using an evaluation profile of the subjects’ impressions, this study, in which the experimental subjects can touch and see plants, compares the visual experience of seeing plants with the tactile experience. The subjects were 29 students (14 male and 15 female) aged from 21 to 27 (mean ± sd: 22.7 ± 2.2). The subjects observed at four different experimental samples including natural leaves, and then touched each sample with their eyes open. After each stimuli (i.e. visual and tactile stimuli), a semantic differential method was used, and a trait anxiety test was also conducted. Significant differences between a genuine and an imitation pothos leaf were observed in the tactile properties for ‘Smooth–Rough’ and ‘Soft–Hard’, but were not seen in the affective adjectives such as ‘Pleasant–Unpleasant’ or ‘Like–Dislike’ through visual stimuli. However, by adding the tactile stimuli, significant differences were seen in the affective adjectives. This study suggests that judgments based on visual stimuli are cognitive and judgments based on tactile stimuli are affective, and that touching natural leaves is preferred to touching imitation leaves.

Key Word:
plant foliage, semantic differential method, sense of touch, tactile stimuli, visual stimuli, imitation leaves

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