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THE DEPENDENCE OF VIBROTACTILE THRESHOLD AND MAGNITUDE FUNCTIONS ON STIMULATION FREQUENCY AND SIGNAL LEVEL: A perceptual and neural comparison
Author(s) -
Franzén Ove
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9450.1969.tb00039.x
Subject(s) - power function , magnitude (astronomy) , intensity (physics) , perception , stimulation , exponent , sensory system , psychophysics , psychology , signal (programming language) , communication , physics , audiology , acoustics , mathematics , mathematical analysis , neuroscience , optics , computer science , astronomy , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , programming language
F ranzén , O. The dependence of vibrotactile threshold and magnitude functions on stimulation frequency and signal level. A perceptual and neural comparison. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1969, 10 , 289–298.—Apparent intensity of vibrotactile signals was examined as a function of stimulation frequency and displacement. Two sorts of power transformations were observed. (1) The exponent decreased as frequency was increased. (2) At low signal levels perceived intensity was linearly related to the physical input. At a certain point on the intensity continuum an abrupt shift to a power function with a slope of 0.58 occurred. The successive change of the exponent of the magnitude functions is tentatively interpreted as a kind of successively increasing demultiplication in the rate of firing frequency in the sensory pathway. A dual mechanism of mechanoreception is discussed.