Factors affecting tactile spatial acuity. Craig, J. C. & Kisner, J. M. Somatosensory and Motor Research, 15(1):29-45, 1996. abstract bibtex Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405, USA. CRAIGJ@INDIANA.EDU. Tactile spatial acuity on the fingerpad was measured using a grating orientation task. In this task, subjects are required to identify the orientation of square-wave gratings placed on the skin. Previous studies have shown that performance varies as a function of the width of the grooves in the gratings. In the present study, both groove width and the overall size and configuration of the contactors were varied. Sensitivity improved with wider grooves and with larger contactors. Additional measurements showed that the improved sensitivity is not the result of the increase in total area contacted, but rather is due to two other factors associated with larger contactors. One is the greater linear extent of the larger contactors. The other appears to be due to the reduction in the interference produced by the outer edge of the contactor. Specifically, as the contactor increases in size, the distance between the outer edge and the center portion of the grooves also increases. It was also shown that subjects are more sensitive to a single, continuous groove as compared with two grooves of the same total length but spatially discontinuous. Similarly, subjects are more sensitive to a contactor with a continuous groove than to a contactor in which just the end points of the groove are presented. The results are generally consistent with the results of peripheral, neurophysiological recordings. The results are discussed in terms of the way in which both spatial and intensive factors may affect sensitivity to grating orientation.
@article{ Craig_Kisner98,
author = {Craig, J. C. and Kisner, J. M.},
title = {Factors affecting tactile spatial acuity},
journal = {Somatosensory and Motor Research},
year = {1996},
volume = {15},
pages = {29-45},
number = {1},
abstract = {Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405, USA.
CRAIGJ@INDIANA.EDU. Tactile spatial acuity on the fingerpad was measured
using a grating orientation task. In this task, subjects are required
to identify the orientation of square-wave gratings placed on the
skin. Previous studies have shown that performance varies as a function
of the width of the grooves in the gratings. In the present study,
both groove width and the overall size and configuration of the contactors
were varied. Sensitivity improved with wider grooves and with larger
contactors. Additional measurements showed that the improved sensitivity
is not the result of the increase in total area contacted, but rather
is due to two other factors associated with larger contactors. One
is the greater linear extent of the larger contactors. The other
appears to be due to the reduction in the interference produced by
the outer edge of the contactor. Specifically, as the contactor increases
in size, the distance between the outer edge and the center portion
of the grooves also increases. It was also shown that subjects are
more sensitive to a single, continuous groove as compared with two
grooves of the same total length but spatially discontinuous. Similarly,
subjects are more sensitive to a contactor with a continuous groove
than to a contactor in which just the end points of the groove are
presented. The results are generally consistent with the results
of peripheral, neurophysiological recordings. The results are discussed
in terms of the way in which both spatial and intensive factors may
affect sensitivity to grating orientation.},
en_number = {14.2: }
}
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{"_id":"DLQQ8Byp82aEKz8PM","bibbaseid":"craig-kisner-factorsaffectingtactilespatialacuity-1996","downloads":0,"creationDate":"2015-02-08T05:14:41.284Z","title":"Factors affecting tactile spatial acuity","author_short":["Craig, J.<nbsp>C.","Kisner, J.<nbsp>M."],"year":1996,"bibtype":"article","biburl":"http://cnslab.mb.jhu.edu/niebase.bib","bibdata":{"abstract":"Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405, USA. CRAIGJ@INDIANA.EDU. Tactile spatial acuity on the fingerpad was measured using a grating orientation task. In this task, subjects are required to identify the orientation of square-wave gratings placed on the skin. Previous studies have shown that performance varies as a function of the width of the grooves in the gratings. In the present study, both groove width and the overall size and configuration of the contactors were varied. Sensitivity improved with wider grooves and with larger contactors. Additional measurements showed that the improved sensitivity is not the result of the increase in total area contacted, but rather is due to two other factors associated with larger contactors. One is the greater linear extent of the larger contactors. The other appears to be due to the reduction in the interference produced by the outer edge of the contactor. Specifically, as the contactor increases in size, the distance between the outer edge and the center portion of the grooves also increases. It was also shown that subjects are more sensitive to a single, continuous groove as compared with two grooves of the same total length but spatially discontinuous. Similarly, subjects are more sensitive to a contactor with a continuous groove than to a contactor in which just the end points of the groove are presented. The results are generally consistent with the results of peripheral, neurophysiological recordings. The results are discussed in terms of the way in which both spatial and intensive factors may affect sensitivity to grating orientation.","author":["Craig, J. C.","Kisner, J. M."],"author_short":["Craig, J.<nbsp>C.","Kisner, J.<nbsp>M."],"bibtex":"@article{ Craig_Kisner98,\n author = {Craig, J. C. and Kisner, J. M.},\n title = {Factors affecting tactile spatial acuity},\n journal = {Somatosensory and Motor Research},\n year = {1996},\n volume = {15},\n pages = {29-45},\n number = {1},\n abstract = {Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405, USA.\n\tCRAIGJ@INDIANA.EDU. Tactile spatial acuity on the fingerpad was measured\n\tusing a grating orientation task. In this task, subjects are required\n\tto identify the orientation of square-wave gratings placed on the\n\tskin. Previous studies have shown that performance varies as a function\n\tof the width of the grooves in the gratings. In the present study,\n\tboth groove width and the overall size and configuration of the contactors\n\twere varied. Sensitivity improved with wider grooves and with larger\n\tcontactors. Additional measurements showed that the improved sensitivity\n\tis not the result of the increase in total area contacted, but rather\n\tis due to two other factors associated with larger contactors. One\n\tis the greater linear extent of the larger contactors. The other\n\tappears to be due to the reduction in the interference produced by\n\tthe outer edge of the contactor. Specifically, as the contactor increases\n\tin size, the distance between the outer edge and the center portion\n\tof the grooves also increases. It was also shown that subjects are\n\tmore sensitive to a single, continuous groove as compared with two\n\tgrooves of the same total length but spatially discontinuous. Similarly,\n\tsubjects are more sensitive to a contactor with a continuous groove\n\tthan to a contactor in which just the end points of the groove are\n\tpresented. The results are generally consistent with the results\n\tof peripheral, neurophysiological recordings. The results are discussed\n\tin terms of the way in which both spatial and intensive factors may\n\taffect sensitivity to grating orientation.},\n en_number = {14.2: }\n}","bibtype":"article","en_number":"14.2:","id":"Craig_Kisner98","journal":"Somatosensory and Motor Research","key":"Craig_Kisner98","number":"1","pages":"29-45","title":"Factors affecting tactile spatial acuity","type":"article","volume":"15","year":"1996","bibbaseid":"craig-kisner-factorsaffectingtactilespatialacuity-1996","role":"author","urls":{},"downloads":0},"search_terms":["factors","affecting","tactile","spatial","acuity","craig","kisner"],"keywords":[],"authorIDs":[],"dataSources":["ErLXoH8mqSjESnrN5"]}