Horner D T
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh 54901, USA.
Percept Psychophys. 1995 May;57(4):463-74. doi: 10.3758/bf03213072.
The present study examined whether the locations of patterns on the skin affected the ability to process information about their shapes. In Experiment 1, pairs of spatial vibrotactile patterns, using the array from the Optacon, were presented sequentially to subjects' left index fingerpads. The location of each pattern in a pair was varied randomly among four locations on the skin. The subjects responded "same" or "different" on the basis of the shapes of patterns, regardless of their locations. Discrimination accuracy was highest and response time fastest when patterns occupied identical locations (ILs), and performance suffered with increasing distance between patterns. In Experiment 2, pairs were presented to corresponding points or to noncorresponding points on separate fingerpads. When patterns occupied corresponding points on separate fingers, accuracy was lower than when patterns occupied ILs on a single finger, but higher than when patterns occupied noncorresponding points on separate fingers. The results suggested that discriminability declined partly because patterns did not occupy ILs, and partly because separate locations had different densities of innervation.
本研究考察了皮肤上图案的位置是否会影响处理其形状信息的能力。在实验1中，使用Optacon的阵列，将成对的空间振动触觉图案依次呈现给受试者的左手食指指尖。一对图案中每个图案的位置在皮肤上的四个位置之间随机变化。受试者根据图案的形状回答“相同”或“不同”，而不考虑其位置。当图案占据相同位置（ILs）时，辨别准确率最高，反应时间最快，并且随着图案之间距离的增加，表现会变差。在实验2中，将成对图案呈现给不同手指尖上的对应点或非对应点。当图案占据不同手指上的对应点时，准确率低于图案占据单个手指上的相同位置时，但高于图案占据不同手指上的非对应点时。结果表明，可辨别性下降部分是因为图案没有占据相同位置，部分是因为不同位置的神经支配密度不同。
