title: Effortful touch with minimum movement: revisited.
abstract: The ecological static moment-torque model proposed by C. Carello, P. Fitzpatrick, I. Domaniewicz, T.C. Chan, and M.T. Turvey (1992) does not uniquely explain the perception of rod length by static holding. Guided by a mechanical analysis of the gravitational forces and torques produced in the hand as it statically holds rods of different lengths and materials at different orientations, we offer 2 additional theoretical explanations, the force-torque and weight-percept models. Experiment 1 demonstrates that all 3 models predict perceived rod length with considerable success. Experiment 2 provides clear experimental support for the force-torque and weight-percept models over the static moment-torque model. Experiment 3 pits the former 2 models against each other. Current results favor the weight-percept model. Implications for theories of haptic weight perception and design of a new tactile sensor are also considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lederman
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Ganeshan
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Ellis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006112:Gravitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D005082:Physical Exertion; D011340:Problem Solving; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011601:Psychophysics; D012858:Size Perception; D014110:Touch; D014892:Weight Perception