Abstract
A systematic investigation of the subjective magnitude of vibrotaction was undertaken to: (1) determine the growth of sensation as a function of stimulus intensity; (2) establish contours of equal subjective magnitude; and (3) compare over a wide range of frequency and intensity the psychophysical methods of direct scaling and intensity matching. The results show that the data obtained by direct scaling are comparable to the data obtained by interfrequency matching. The subjective magnitude function is a power function with a slope of about 0.89 for frequencies up to 350 Hz. Near threshold the growth of sensation is proportional to the physical intensity. Contours of equal subjective magnitude for vibration across 10 frequencies and at 11 levels of intensity are given.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
BÉKÉSY, G. von.Experiments in hearing. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960.
EKMAN, G.Subjective power functions and the method of fractionation. Report from the Psychological Laboratory, University of Stockholm, 1956, No. 34.
FLETCHER, H., & MUNSON, W. A. Loudness, its definition, measurement and calculation. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1933,5, 82–108.
FRANZÉN, O. On summation: A psychophysical study of the tactual sense. In“Quarterly Progress and Status Report,” Speech Transmission Laboratory, Royal Institute of Technology. Stockholm, Sweden, January 15, 1966.
GELDARD, F. A. Cutaneous channels of communication. In W. A. Rosenblith (Ed.),Sensory communication. New York: Wiley, 1961. Pp.73–87.
GOFF, G. D. Differential discrimination of frequency of cutaneous mechanical vibration. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1967, 74, 294–299.
HELLMAN, R. P., & ZWISLOCKI, J. Some factors affecting the estimation of loudness. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1961,33, 687–694.
HELLMAN, R. P., & ZWISLOCKI, J. Monaural loudness function at 1,000 cps and interaural summation. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1963, 35, 856–865.
MARKS, L. E., & STEVENS, J. C. The form of the psychophysical function near threshold. Perception & Psychophysics, 1968, 4, 315–318.
MOUNTCASTLE, V. B., TALBOT, W. H., DARIAN-SMITH, I., & KORNHUBER, H. H. Neural basis of the sense of flutter-vibration. Science, 1967, 155,597–600.
REYNOLDS, G. S., & STEVENS, S. S. Binaural summation of loudness. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1960, 32,1337–1344.
ROBINSON, D. W. The subjective loudness scale. Acustica, 1957,7,217.
ROSS, S.Loudness of pure tones as a function of frequency, intensity, and middle ear mechanics. Part I. Matching functions for loudness. Center for Research on Language and Language Behavior. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich., 1965.
SCHARF, B., & STEVENS, S. S. The form of the loudness function near threshold. In L. Cremer (Ed.),Proceedings of the Third International Congress on Acoustics, 1959. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1961.
SHERRICK, C. E. Observations relating to some common psychophysical functions as applied to skin. In G. R. Hawkes (Ed.),Symposium on cutaneous sensitivity. Ft. Knox, Ky.: U.S. Army Medical Research Laboratory, 1960. Pp. 147–158.
STEVENS, S. S. The measurement of loudness. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1955, 27,815–829.
STEVENS, S. S. The direct estimation of sensory magnitude loudness. American Journal of Psychology, 1956, 69,1–25.
STEVENS, S. S. On the psychphysical law. Psychological Review, 1957, 64, 153–181.
STEVENS, S. S. Problems and methods of psychophysics. Psychological Bulletin, 1958,54,177–196.
STEVENS, S. S. Tactile vibration: Dynamics of sensory intensity. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1959, 57, 210–218.
STEVENS, S. S. Tactile vibration: Change of exponent with frequency. Perception & Psychophysics, 1968, 3,223–228.
VERRILLO, R. T. Effect of contactor area on the vibrotactile threshold. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1963, 35, 1962–1966.
VERRILLO, R. T. Temporal summation in vibrotactile sensitivity. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1965,37,843–846.
VERRILLO, R. T. Effect of spatial parameters on the vibrotactile threshold. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1966a, 71, 570–575.
VERRILLO, R. T. Specificity of a cutaneous receptor. Perception & Psychophysics, 1966b, 1, 149–153.
VERRILLO, R. T. A duplex mechanism of mechanoreception. In D. R. Kenshalo (Ed.),The skin senses. Springfield: C. C. Thomas, 1968.
ZWISLOCKI, J. Theory of temporal summation. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1960, 32, 1046–1060.
ZWISLOCKI, J. Analysis of some auditory characteristics. In R. D. Luce, R. R. Bush, and E. Galanter (Eds.),Handbook of mathematical psychology. Vol. 3. New York: Wiley, 1965. Pp. 1–97.
ZWISLOCKI, J. Vibrotactile information transfer. Bionics Symposium, NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development. Brussels, Belgium, 1968. In press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors express their appreciation to Dr. Jozef Zwislocki for his advice and for his careful reading of the manuscript. Our thanks go also to Robert Gardinier and Bernard Klock for their assistance with equipment problems.
This study was supported by Grant GB-5945 from the National Science Foundation and Grant NINDB-NB-03950-07 from the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Verrillo, R.T., Fraioli, A.J. & Smith, R.L. Sensation magnitude of vibrotactile stimuli. Perception & Psychophysics 6, 366–372 (1969). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212793
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212793