Dunn's Model of Sensory Processing: An Investigation of the Axes of the Four-Quadrant Model in Healthy Adults

Abstract

We examined the behavioral response (BR) and threshold (T) axes of Dunn's four-quadrant model of sensory processing (1997). We assessed whether they are ordinal ranges and if variation is associated with other similarly described characteristics: Introversion/Extraversion (I/E) of Eysenck's personality model (Sato, 2005), and somatosensory event related potentials (SERP) and their gating (Davies & Gavin, 2007). From healthy adults (n = 139), we obtained: Adult/Adolescent Profile (A/ASP, Brown & Dunn, 2002) and Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire, Brief Version (Sato, 2005) scores and peak amplitude and gating factor of SERP P50. We found that BR scores did not differ across normative categories of the A/ASP, but T scores significantly increased along the axis. I/E scores did not vary with BR scores. There were no differences or correlations in P50 amplitudes and gating with T scores. The findings suggest that the BR axis may not reflect a construct with ordinal range, but the T axis may. Dunn's concept of BR appears to be distinct from Eysenck's concept of I/E. SERP and its gating may not be directly reflective of sensory processing thresholds in healthy adults. Conclusions are limited by having few participants with passive behavior regulation or low threshold patterns of processing.

Keywords: sensory processing.

Figure 1

Calculated axis scores for participants according to the quadrant in which they had their highest score on the A/ASP. (A) Given the quadrant in which participants had their highest score on the A/ASP, participants were categorized into Passive BR and Active BR, then further divided according to how their score compared to the normative distribution. This bar chart shows the mean and deviation of calculated BR axis scores, arranged along the passive to active spectrum of the axis. The means do not increase from passive to active in an ordinal fashion. (B) Given the quadrant in which participants had their highest score on the A/ASP, participants were categorized into Low T and High T, then further divided according to how their score compared to the normative distribution. This bar chart shows the mean and deviation of calculated T axis scores, arranged along the low to high spectrum of the axis. The do demonstrate ordinal increase along the low to high range.

Figure 2

Introversion/Extraversion scores of participants with active and passive BR patterns. Mean and standard deviation of the Introversion/Extraversion axis scores of the EBQ-BV for participants categorized as having active or passive behavior response patterns according to the quadrant with the highest raw score on the A/ASP.

Figure 3

Relationship of somatosenory evoked potentials and gating to Dunn’s Threshold axis. (A) Mean and standard deviation of the SERP P50 amplitude for participants categorized as having low or high threshold patterns according to the quadrant with the highest raw score on the A/ASP. (B) Scatterplot of SERP P50 amplitude and calculated T axis scores. (C) Mean and standard deviation of the SERP gating ratio for participants categorized as having low or high threshold patterns according to the quadrant with the highest raw score on the A/ASP. (D) Scatterplot of SERP gating ratio and calculated T axis scores.