The perceived timing of active versus passive touch

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" The perceived timing of active versus passive touch "
Rebecca Winter

Document Type	:	Latin Dissertation
Language of Document	:	English
Record Number	:	55659
Doc. No	:	TL25613
Call number	:	‭MR45977‬
Main Entry	:	Rebecca Winter
Title & Author	:	The perceived timing of active versus passive touch\ Rebecca Winter
College	:	York University (Canada)
Date	:	2008
Degree	:	M.A.
student score	:	2008
Page No	:	68
Abstract	:	Tactile stimulation usually occurs as a combination of an active movement (reaching out to touch a surface) and a sensation (actually feeling the surface against the skin). The brain has information about the active component (the motor command) before it has even occurred because of efference copy, while the passive component must be transduced before it can be processed. Since the times at which the active and passive tactile components are available are different, determining the time of the touch requires calculation either calculated from the passive sensation, and/or worked forward from the active motor command. In order to determine which type of touch is perceived more quickly, I compared simultaneity judgments of active touch/light and touch/sound, and passive touch/light and touch/sound pairs. In both the sound and light pair conditions active touch was always perceived more slowly than passive touch. In order to test the plasticity of the active and passive touch systems, I exploited the fact that the point of subjective simultaneity between two stimuli can be altered by repeated exposure to asynchronous presentation. I looked at the effect on the perceived timing of active and passive touches relative to light or sound references after exposure to time staggered presentations, with delays of either 100ms or 250ms. Touch-light pairs revealed a shift of PSS following exposure to both 100 and 250ms delay conditions. In the touch/sound condition only passive touch/sound pairs showed any change (an increase in JND) following the 250ms exposure condition. These results support the existence of plasticity in both the active and passive touch systems.
Subject	:	Psychology; Experimental psychology; 0623:Experimental psychology
Added Entry	:	York University (Canada)