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Curvature discrimination in various finger conditions

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Abstract

The ability of humans to discriminate curvature was investigated for different finger conditions. The experiments were conducted in which subjects explored cylindrically curved stimuli by touch. Using a 2-alternative forced–choice procedure, discrimination thresholds and biases were measured for several conditions. In 1-finger conditions, reference and test stimulus were explored with the same finger, whereas in 2-finger conditions these stimuli were felt with different fingers. Similar thresholds were obtained for the 1-finger conditions, in which either the preferred or the non-preferred index finger or the thumb was employed. However, significantly higher thresholds were found for the conditions in which subjects used two fingers, either of the same hand or of different hands. Interestingly, even higher thresholds were obtained for a 2-finger condition in which subjects explored the stimuli simultaneously instead of sequentially. In addition, subject-dependent biases were found in the 2-finger conditions. We conclude that the number of fingers and the mode of exploration have a considerable effect on performance in a haptic task such as curvature discrimination.

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Acknowledgment

This research was supported by a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics of Man, Helmholtz Instituut, Universiteit Utrecht, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Bernard J. van der Horst & Astrid M. L. Kappers

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  1. Bernard J. van der Horst
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  2. Astrid M. L. Kappers
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Correspondence to Bernard J. van der Horst.

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van der Horst, B., Kappers, A.M.L. Curvature discrimination in various finger conditions. Exp Brain Res 177, 304–311 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0670-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0670-9

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