{"title":"Viewed touch influences tactile detection by altering decision criterion.","authors":"Anupama Nair, Jared Medina","doi":"10.3758/s13414-024-02959-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Our tactile perception is shaped not only by somatosensory input but also by visual information. Prior research on the effect of viewing touch on tactile processing has found higher tactile detection rates when paired with viewed touch versus a control visual stimulus. Therefore, some have proposed a vicarious tactile system that activates somatosensory areas when viewing touch, resulting in enhanced tactile perception. However, we propose an alternative explanation: Viewing touch makes the observer more liberal in their decision to report a tactile stimulus relative to not viewing touch, also resulting in higher tactile detection rates. To disambiguate between the two explanations, we examined the effect of viewed touch on tactile sensitivity and decision criterion using signal detection theory. In three experiments, participants engaged in a tactile detection task while viewing a hand being touched or approached by a finger, a red dot, or no stimulus. We found that viewing touch led to a consistent, liberal criterion shift but inconsistent enhancement in tactile sensitivity relative to not viewing touch. Moreover, observing a finger approach the hand was sufficient to bias the criterion. These findings suggest that viewing touch influences tactile performance by altering tactile decision mechanisms rather than the tactile perceptual signal.</p>","PeriodicalId":55433,"journal":{"name":"Attention Perception & Psychophysics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Attention Perception & Psychophysics","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-024-02959-7","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Our tactile perception is shaped not only by somatosensory input but also by visual information. Prior research on the effect of viewing touch on tactile processing has found higher tactile detection rates when paired with viewed touch versus a control visual stimulus. Therefore, some have proposed a vicarious tactile system that activates somatosensory areas when viewing touch, resulting in enhanced tactile perception. However, we propose an alternative explanation: Viewing touch makes the observer more liberal in their decision to report a tactile stimulus relative to not viewing touch, also resulting in higher tactile detection rates. To disambiguate between the two explanations, we examined the effect of viewed touch on tactile sensitivity and decision criterion using signal detection theory. In three experiments, participants engaged in a tactile detection task while viewing a hand being touched or approached by a finger, a red dot, or no stimulus. We found that viewing touch led to a consistent, liberal criterion shift but inconsistent enhancement in tactile sensitivity relative to not viewing touch. Moreover, observing a finger approach the hand was sufficient to bias the criterion. These findings suggest that viewing touch influences tactile performance by altering tactile decision mechanisms rather than the tactile perceptual signal.
期刊介绍:
The journal Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics is an official journal of the Psychonomic Society. It spans all areas of research in sensory processes, perception, attention, and psychophysics. Most articles published are reports of experimental work; the journal also presents theoretical, integrative, and evaluative reviews. Commentary on issues of importance to researchers appears in a special section of the journal. Founded in 1966 as Perception & Psychophysics, the journal assumed its present name in 2009.