Abstract
Three experiments investigated the ability of subjects to identify the direction of movement of a pattern across the skin. In Experiments 1 and 2, subjects were required to identify the direction of movement of a pattern presented to one fingerpad while another moving pattern was being presented to an adjacent fingerpad. Subjects were instructed to attend only to the target location. The results showed that accuracy was consistently higher and reaction times were consistently faster when the two patterns moved in the same direction than when they moved in opposite directions. Both effects were largest when the two patterns were presented simultaneously. In Experiment 3, the nontarget location was the contralateral hand. In this case, performance was not affected by the presentation of the nontarget. Combined, the results suggest that movement information is processed across adjacent fingers even when subjects are explicitly instructed to attend only to one finger. Subjects do appear to be able to restrict attention to a single hand.
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This research was supported by Grant DC-00095 from the National Institutes of Health and by Grant 90-0215 from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The research was conducted while the first author was a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for the Study of Human Capabitities, Indiana University.
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Evans, P.M., Craig, J.C. Tactile attention and the perception of moving tactile stimuli. Perception & Psychophysics 49, 355–364 (1991). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205993
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205993