Ho Hsin-Ni, Jones Lynette A
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Percept Psychophys. 2006 Jan;68(1):118-28. doi: 10.3758/bf03193662.
The objective of these two experiments was to determine the role of thermal cues in material discrimination and localization, using materials that spanned a range of thermal properties. In the first experiment, the subjects were required to select the cooler of two materials presented to the index fingers. In the second, the finger that was in contact with a material that was different from that presented to the other two fingers on the same hand had to be identified. The results indicated that the subjects were able to discriminate between materials, using thermal cues, when the differences in their thermal properties were large. The changes in skin temperature when the fingers were touching the materials were, however, smaller than those predicted by the theoretical model. The ability to localize the thermal changes when three fingers on the same hand were stimulated was poor and depended on both the thermal properties of the target and the distractor materials.
这两项实验的目的是使用一系列具有不同热特性的材料，确定热线索在材料辨别和定位中的作用。在第一个实验中，受试者需要从呈现给食指的两种材料中选择温度较低的那种。在第二个实验中，必须识别出与同一只手上另外两根手指所接触材料不同的那根手指。结果表明，当材料的热特性差异较大时，受试者能够利用热线索来区分不同材料。然而，手指接触材料时皮肤温度的变化比理论模型预测的要小。当同一只手上的三根手指受到刺激时，定位热变化的能力较差，并且取决于目标材料和干扰材料的热特性。
