Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Detection, discrimination & localisation: The psychophysics of touch

Holmes, Nicholas P. and Tamè, Luigi (2023) Detection, discrimination & localisation: The psychophysics of touch. In: Holmes, Nicholas P., ed. Somatosensory Research Methods. Neuromethods . Springer Nature. ISBN 978-1-0716-3067-9. (doi:10.1007/978-1-0716-3068-6_1) (Access to this publication is currently restricted. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:99011)

PDF Author's Accepted Manuscript
Language: English

Restricted to Repository staff only
Contact us about this Publication
[thumbnail of Chapter1_Psychophysics_Holmes.pdf]
Official URL:
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3068-6_1

Abstract

Detecting and discriminating touches on your fingertip and other highly sensitive body parts has been a paradigm in somatosensory science since the birth of psychophysics in the nineteenth century. By isolating a body part and applying discrete stimuli over many repetitions, the limits of somatosensation and bodily perception can be discovered. This chapter will focus on two methods of studying discriminative touch in the temporal and spatial domains: vibrotactile perception and spatial acuity. Different psychophysical approaches and experimental designs will be described and evaluated in terms of their validity, efficiency, and reliability. Practical and participant-specific difficulties will be noted. Vibrotactile and spatial acuity methods offer relatively cheap and reliable measures of somatosensation, often suitable for undergraduate student projects. Yet care and experimentation is required to ensure that the experimental design is adequate, and the data collection is sufficient to answer your theoretical question.

Item Type: Book section
DOI/Identification number: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3068-6_1
Uncontrolled keywords: Detection, Discrimination, Vibrotactile, Grating orientation task, Cutaneous, Fingers, Behavior, Two-point discrimination
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF41 Psychology and philosophy
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Luigi Tame
Date Deposited: 08 Dec 2022 12:20 UTC
Last Modified: 05 Nov 2024 13:04 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/99011 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.