Abstract
Katz (1925) has argued that the sense of vibration underlies the tactual perception of roughness. However, Taylor and Lederman (1975) have suggested that vibration serves only to prevent the cessation of mechanoreceptor activity. In an experimental evaluation of these positions, it is shown that, although prior (selective) adaptation of the fingertip strongly affects the perceived magnitude of supraliminal vibrotactile signals, it fails to alter the perceived roughness of metal gratings. The results thus favor the Taylor and Lederman position. The paper also speculates on roughness coding by the mechanoreceptor populations present in glabrous skin of the human hand.
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Lederman, S. J.Spatial and temporal determinants of tactual roughness perception. Manuscript submitted for publication, 1982.
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This research was conducted at the University of California at Santa Barbara while the first author was on sabbatical leave.
This research was supported by NSERC Grant A9854 to the first author and NINCDS Grant 1 R01 NS 15129 to the second author.
The late Bernard Klock of the Institute for Sensory Research at Syracuse University produced the contactor used in these experiments.
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Lederman, S.J., Loomis, J.M. & Williams, D.A. The role of vibration in the tactual perception of roughness. Perception & Psychophysics 32, 109–116 (1982). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204270
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204270