Does importance carry weight? How thinking about the future influences human movement

The present study aimed to determine if thinking about important future events is capable of influencing human movement through the sensation of physical weight. It also considered how this affect interacts with the bilateral deficit. Thirty-four individuals, 13 female, 21 male, with a mean age of 24.6 years, participated in this research. They completed a questionnaire which asked them think about either an important or trivial upcoming, future event. Once completed, measures of manual dexterity, force and reaction time were obtained by Purdue pegboard and pinch grip tasks. In contrast to previous research which has found thinking about current issues or past events creates the physical sensation of weight on the body, there was no evidence to suggest that thinking about important future events influences human movement or the bilateral deficit.