Visual effects on tactile texture perception

Roberts, Roberta D.; Li, Min; Allen, Harriet A.

Abstract

How does vision affect active touch in judgments of surface roughness? We contrasted direct (combination of visual with tactile sensory information) and indirect (vision alters the processes of active touch) effects of vision on touch. Participants judged which of 2 surfaces was rougher using their index finger to make static contact with gratings of spatial period 1580 and 1620μm. Simultaneously, they viewed the stimulus under one of five visual conditions: No vision, Filtered vision + touch, Veridical vision + touch (where vision alone yielded roughness discrimination at chance), Congruent vision + touch, Incongruent vision + touch. Results from 32 participants showed roughness discrimination for touch with vision was better than touch alone. The visual benefit for touch was strongest in a filtered (spatially non-informative) vision condition, thus results are interpreted in terms of indirect integration. An indirect effect of vision was further indicated by a finding of visual benefit in some but not all visuo-tactile congruency conditions.

Citation

Roberts, R. D., Li, M., & Allen, H. A. (2024). Visual effects on tactile texture perception. Scientific Reports, 14(1), Article 632. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50596-1

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 21, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jan 5, 2024
• Publication Date: Jan 5, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jan 8, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 9, 2024
• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Electronic ISSN: 2045-2322
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 632
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50596-1
• Keywords: Multidisciplinary
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/29539529
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-50596-1
• Additional Information: Received: 31 December 2022; Accepted: 21 December 2023; First Online: 5 January 2024