embodied cognition

[David Morris]

http://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2012/03/06/when-youre-evil-the-whole-world-looks-dark/

Is it dark in here, or is it me? In the latest example of the study of
“embodied cognition” — the notion that metaphors don’t just help us
express abstract ideas but can also shape basic perception —
researchers had 40 students recall and describe either an ethical or
unethical deed from their past. On a 7-point scale, the students then
judged the brightness of the room they were in.

“As predicted, participants in the unethical condition judged the room
to be darker than did participants in the ethical condition,” write
the authors of the study, which is forthcoming in Psychological
Science.

The exercise was repeated in a second study, involving 74 students,
with the same result. These students were also asked to “indicate
their preferences” for a series of seemingly random objects: a jug, a
lamp, crackers, a candle, an apple, and a flashlight. The students who
had pondered unethical deeds, and who rated the room as darker, also
expressed a stronger preference for the lamp, candle, and flashlight
than the other objects.