Memory influences haptic perception of softness

Authors: Metzger, A. and Drewing, K.

Journal: Scientific Reports

Volume: 9

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group

ISSN: 2045-2322

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-50835-4

Abstract:

The memory of an object’s property (e.g. its typical colour) can affect its visual perception. We investigated whether memory of the softness of every-day objects influences their haptic perception. We produced bipartite silicone rubber stimuli: one half of the stimuli was covered with a layer of an object (sponge, wood, tennis ball, foam ball); the other half was uncovered silicone. Participants were not aware of the partition. They first used their bare finger to stroke laterally over the covering layer to recognize the well-known object and then indented the other half of the stimulus with a probe to compare its softness to that of an uncovered silicone stimulus. Across four experiments with different methods we showed that silicon stimuli covered with a layer of rather hard objects (tennis ball and wood) were perceived harder than the same silicon stimuli when being covered with a layer of rather soft objects (sponge and foam ball), indicating that haptic perception of softness is affected by memory.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/37186/

Source: Manual