Editing Haptic communication (section)

{{Short description|Communication via touch}}
{{About|the study of touching communication and behaviour||Haptics (disambiguation){{!}}Haptics}}
[[File:Laughter by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|A boy laughing as he is [[tickle]]d]]

'''Haptic communication''' is [[nonverbal communication]] and interaction via the sense of [[touch]]. 
Touch can come in many different forms, some can promote physical and psychological [[well-being]]. A warm, loving touch can lead to positive outcomes while a violent touch can ultimately lead to a negative outcome. The sense of touch allows one to experience different sensations such as pleasure, pain, heat, or cold. One of the most significant aspects of touch is the ability to convey and enhance [[physical intimacy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.in-mind.org/article/that-human-touch-that-means-so-much-exploring-the-tactile-dimension-of-social-life|title=That human touch that means so much: Exploring the tactile dimension of social life {{!}} Magazine issue 2/2013 - Issue 17 {{!}} In-Mind|website=www.in-mind.org|access-date=2019-11-20}}</ref> The sense of touch is the fundamental component of haptic communication for [[interpersonal relationships]]. Touch can be categorized in many terms such as positive, playful, control, [[ritualistic]], task-related or unintentional. It can be both [[Human sexual behavior|sexual]] ([[kissing]] is one example that some perceive as sexual), and [[Platonic love|platonic]] (such as [[hug]]ging or a [[handshake]]). [[Strike (attack)|Striking]], pushing, pulling, pinching, [[kick]]ing, [[strangling]] and hand-to-hand [[fighting]] are forms of touch in the context of [[physical abuse]].

Touch is the most sophisticated and intimate of the five senses.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Nonverbal Communication|last1=Burgoon|first1=Judee K.|last2=Guerrero|first2=Laura K.|last3=Floyd|first3=Kory|publisher=Pearson Education, Inc.|year=2010|isbn=9780205525003}}</ref> Touch or haptics, from the ancient Greek word ''[[Haptic technology|haptikos]]'', is vital for survival.<ref>Field, Tiffany. "The Importance of Touch." ''Karger Gazette'', misc.karger.com/gazette/67/Field/art_4.htm. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.</ref>
Touch is the first sense to develop in the fetus.<ref>Pediatrix Medical Group, editor. [https://docplayer.net/163754-How-babies-senses-develop.html "How Babies' Sense Develop."] 2015. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.</ref> The development of an [[Infants|infant]]'s haptic senses and how it relates to the development of the other senses, such as [[Visual perception|vision]], has been the target of much research. Human babies have been observed to have enormous difficulty surviving if they do not possess a sense of touch, even if they retain sight and hearing.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Montgomery|first1=Marilyn J.|last2=Whiddon|first2=Melody A.|year=2011|title=Is Touch Beyond Infancy Important for Children's Mental Health?|url=https://www.counseling.org/resources/library/VISTAS/2011-V-Online/Article_88.pdf|journal=American Counseling Association}}</ref> Infants who can perceive through touch, even without sight and hearing, tend to fare much better.<ref>Leonard, Crystal. "The Sense of Touch and How It Affects Development." ''The Sense of Touch and How It Affects Development'', 14 May 2009, serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/crystal-leonard/sense-touch-and-how-it-affects-development. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.</ref>

Similarly to infants, in chimpanzees the sense of touch is highly developed. As newborns they see and hear poorly but cling strongly to their mothers. [[Harry Harlow]] conducted a controversial study involving [[Rhesus macaque|rhesus monkeys]] and observed that monkeys reared with a "terry cloth mother", a wire feeding apparatus wrapped in softer [[Terrycloth|terry cloth]] which provided a level of tactile stimulation and comfort, were considerably more emotionally stable as adults than those with a mere "wire mother". For his experiment, he presented the infants with a clothed [[surrogate mother]] and a wire surrogate mother which held a bottle with food. It turns out that the rhesus monkeys spent most of their time with the terry cloth mother, over the wire surrogate with a bottle of food, which indicates that they preferred touch, warmth, and comfort over [[sustenance]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Vicedo|first=Marga|title=The evolution of Harry Harlow: from the nature to the nurture of love|date=2010|url=http://individual.utoronto.ca/vicedo/vicedoca/Publications_files/Vicedo_HofP.pdf|volume=21|issue=2|pages=190–205|journal=History of Psychiatry|doi=10.1177/0957154X10370909|pmid=21877372|s2cid=38140414 |access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>