Adaptation-induced enhancement of vibrotactile amplitude discrimination: the role of adapting frequency

Abstract

Two-interval forced-choice tracking was used to measure amplitude discrimination for 20-Hz vibrotactile test stimuli presented to the thenar eminence of three human observers. For all observers, relative difference threshold could be decreased by adaptation to a 20- or 100-Hz stimulus. Maximal enhancement of discrimination occurred when the amplitude of the adapting stimulus was such that it excited the NP I system to approximately the same degree that the test stimuli did. A signal detection analysis determined that shifts in the observers' criteria could not consistently account for the enhancement of amplitude discrimination. A more likely explanation, in view of recent physiological discoveries, is that under optimal conditions of adaptation test stimuli differing slightly in amplitude become more distinctive because CNS events underlying the resultant sensory experiences become more refined and stimulus specific.