scholarly journals Affective Touch Dimensions: From Sensitivity to Metacognition

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana von Mohr ◽  
Louise P. Kirsch ◽  
Joey K. Loh ◽  
Aikaterini Fotopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Signal Detection ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Signal Detection Theory ◽  
Affective Touch ◽  
Social Touch ◽  
Ct Afferents ◽  
Tactile Stimuli ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ct System ◽  
First Time

AbstractTouch can give rise to different sensations including sensory, emotional and social aspects. Tactile pleasure typically associated with caress-like skin stroking of slow velocities (1-10 cm/s) has been hypothesised to relate to an unmyelinated, slow-conducting C-tactile afferent system (CT system), developed to distinguish affective touch from the ‘‘noise’’ of other tactile information on hairy skin (the so-called ‘social touch hypothesis’). However, to date, there is no psychometric examination of the discriminative and metacognitive processes that contribute to accurate awareness of pleasant touch stimuli. Over two studies (total N= 194), we combined for the first time CT stimulation with signal detection theory and metacognitive measurements to assess the social touch hypothesis on the role of the CT system in affective touch discrimination. Participants’ ability to accurately discriminate pleasantness of tactile stimuli of different velocities, as well as their response bias, was assessed using a force-choice task (high versus low pleasantness response) on two different skin sites: forearm (CT-skin) and palm (non-CT skin). We also examined whether such detection accuracy was related to the confidence in their decision (metacognitive sensitivity). Consistently with the social touch hypothesis, we found higher sensitivity d’ on the forearm versus the palm, indicating that people are better at discriminating between stimuli of high and low tactile pleasantness on a skin site that contains CT afferents. Strikingly, we also found more negative response bias on the forearm versus the palm, indicating a tendency to experience all stimuli on CT-skin as ‘high-pleasant’, with such effects depending on order, likely to be explained by prior touch exposure. Finally, we found that people have greater confidence in their ability to discriminate between affective touch stimuli on CT innervated skin than on non-CT skin, possibly relating to the domain specificity of CT touch hence suggesting a domain-specific, metacognitive hypothesis that can be explored in future studies as an extension of the social touch hypothesis.HighlightsTouch mediated by C-tactile (CT) afferents on hairy skin elicits pleasant sensationsWe combine for the first time CT stimulation with signal detection theoryBetter accuracy to detect pleasantness of tactile stimuli at CT optimal speeds on CT skinHigher confidence in ability to accurately distinguish affective touch on CT skin

scholarly journals Hazard Perception in City and Highway Environments

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1404-1408
Author(s):  
John Paul Plummer ◽  
Anastasia Diamond ◽  
Alex Chaparro ◽  
Rui Ni
Keyword(s):  
Signal Detection ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Signal Detection Theory ◽  
Response Criterion ◽  
Crash Risk ◽  
Hazard Perception ◽  
Driving Experience ◽  
City Environment ◽  
Video Clips ◽  
The City

Hazard perception (HP) is an important aspect of driving performance and is associated with crash risk. In the current study, we investigate the effect of roadway environment (city vs. highway) and expertise on HP. HP was measured using HP clips that evaluated response lag (defined as the time from the participant’s response to the end of the clip) and fuzzy signal detection theory metrics of response criterion and sensitivity. Forty videos were used: 20 from highway environments and 20 from city environments. Forty-eight participants with a range of driving experience as assessed by the years since obtaining a license (less than 1 year to 24 years) completed the study. There were differences between city and highway environments in response lag and response bias; participants responded earlier to the hazards in the highway environment and exhibited a more liberal response bias. Driving experience was significantly correlated to response lag. When the video clips were categorized by environment, driving experience was only significantly correlated with performance for the city environment.

scholarly journals The anticipation and perception of affective touch in women with and recovered from Anorexia Nervosa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Crucianelli ◽  
Benedetta Demartini ◽  
Diana Goeta ◽  
Veronica Nisticò ◽  
Alkistis Saramandi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Ct Afferents ◽  
Tactile Stimuli ◽  
Successful Recovery ◽  
Secondary Result ◽  
Ct System ◽  
Tactile System

AbstractDisruptions in reward processing and anhedonia have long being considered as possible contributors to the aetiology and maintenance of Anorexia nervosa (AN). Recently, interoceptive deficits have also been observed in AN, including reduced tactile pleasure. However, the extent to which this tactile anhedonia is specifically liked to an impairment in a specialized, interoceptive C tactile system originating at the periphery, or a more top-down mechanism in the processing of pleasant tactile stimuli remains debated. Here, we investigated two related hypotheses. First, we examined whether the differences, between patients with AN and healthy controls in the perception of pleasantness of touch stimuli delivered in a CT-optimal manner versus a CT non-optimal manner would also be observed in patients recovered from AN. This is important as tactile anhedonia in acute patients may be the secondary result of prolonged malnutrition, rather than a deficit that contributed to the development of the disorder. Second, we examined whether these three groups would also differ in their top-down, anticipatory beliefs about the perceived pleasantness of different materials touching the skin, and to what degree such top-down beliefs and related impairments in alexithymia and interoceptive sensibility would explain any differences in perceived tactile plesantness. To this end, we measured the anticipated pleasantness of various materials touching the skin and the perceived pleasantness of light, dynamic stroking touches applied to the forearm of 27 women with AN, 24 women who have recovered and 30 healthy controls using C Tactile (CT) afferents-optimal (slow) and non-optimal (fast) velocities. Our results showed that both clinical groups anticipated tactile experiences and rated delivered tactile stimuli as less pleasant than healthy controls, but the latter difference was not related to the CT optimality of the stimulation. Instead, differences in how CT optimal touch were perceived were predicted by differences in top-down beliefs, alexithymia and interoceptive sensibility. Thus, this study concludes that tactile anhedonia in AN is not the secondary result of malnutrition but persists as a trait even after otherwise successful recovery of AN and also it not linked to a bottom-up interoceptive deficit in the CT system, but rather to a learned, defective top-down anticipation of pleasant tactile experiences.

scholarly journals Using Signal Detection Theory to Better Understand Cognitive Fatigue

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn R. Wylie ◽  
Bing Yao ◽  
Joshua Sandry ◽  
John DeLuca
Keyword(s):  
Signal Detection ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Signal Detection Theory ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Detection Theory ◽  
Behavioral Measure ◽  
Cognitive Fatigue ◽  
Fatigue Criterion

When we are fatigued, we feel that our performance is worse than when we are fresh. Yet, for over 100 years, researchers have been unable to identify an objective, behavioral measure that covaries with the subjective experience of fatigue. Previous work suggests that the metrics of signal detection theory (SDT)—response bias (criterion) and perceptual certainty (d’)—may change as a function of fatigue, but no work has yet been done to examine whether these metrics covary with fatigue. Here, we investigated cognitive fatigue using SDT. We induced fatigue through repetitive performance of the n-back working memory task, while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data was acquired. We also assessed cognitive fatigue at intervals throughout. This enabled us to assess not only whether criterion and d’ covary with cognitive fatigue but also whether similar patterns of brain activation underlie cognitive fatigue and SDT measures. Our results show that both criterion and d’ were correlated with changes in cognitive fatigue: as fatigue increased, subjects became more conservative in their response bias and their perceptual certainty declined. Furthermore, activation in the striatum of the basal ganglia was also related to cognitive fatigue, criterion, and d’. These results suggest that SDT measures represent an objective measure of cognitive fatigue. Additionally, the overlap and difference in the fMRI results between cognitive fatigue and SDT measures indicate that these measures are related while also separate. In sum, we show the relevance of SDT measures in the understanding of fatigue, thus providing researchers with a new set of tools with which to better understand the nature and consequences of cognitive fatigue.

scholarly journals Vicarious Ratings of Self vs. Other-directed Social Touch in Women with and Recovered from Anorexia Nervosa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashleigh Bellard ◽  
Paula Trotter ◽  
Francis McGlone ◽  
Valentina Cazzato
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Eating Pathology ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Treatment Interventions ◽  
Affective Touch ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Social Touch ◽  
Recovery Treatment ◽  
Ct System

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is an eating pathology characterized by restricted eating, body image distortions and impaired socio-cognitive abilities. Altered responses to affective touch − a pleasant interoceptive stimulus hypothesised to involve activation of the C-Tactile (CT) system, may contribute to the aetiology and maintenance of this disorder. Here, we investigated whether third-party social touch vicarious ratings of different body sites at CT-optimal vs. non-CT optimal velocities differed in women with and recovered from AN (RAN) and healthy controls (HCs). Thirty-five HCs, 27 AN and 29 RAN provided pleasantness ratings for two different tasks designed to probe expectations of how touch is perceived by self (self-directed touch) vs. others (other-directed touch). Findings revealed that both clinical groups, compared to HCs, did not differ in their pleasantness ratings to touch for another but when evaluating touch for self, both clinical groups rated CT-optimal touch as less pleasant than HCs. These findings suggest that AN and RAN women demonstrate an atypical vicarious pleasantness response to affective touch involving self, but not others. Therefore, as atypical responses persist even after recovery, treatment interventions should focus on overcoming an impairment in differentiating between self and other affective touch experience, which could help prevent post-recovery relapsing.

scholarly journals The off-line effect of affective touch on multisensory integration and tactile perceptual accuracy during the somatic signal detection task

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261060
Author(s):  
Sofia Sacchetti ◽  
Francis McGlone ◽  
Valentina Cazzato ◽  
Laura Mirams
Keyword(s):  
Signal Detection ◽  
Multisensory Integration ◽  
Detection Task ◽  
Perceptual Accuracy ◽  
Affective Touch ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Somatic Signal ◽  
Signal Detection Task ◽  
Ct System ◽  
Somatic Signal Detection Task

Affective touch refers to the emotional and motivational facets of tactile sensation and has been linked to the activation of a specialised system of mechanosensory afferents (the CT system), that respond optimally to slow caress-like touch. Affective touch has been shown to play an important role in the building of the bodily self: the multisensory integrated global awareness of one’s own body. Here we investigated the effects of affective touch on subsequent tactile awareness and multisensory integration using the Somatic Signal Detection Task (SSDT). During the SSDT, participants were required to detect near-threshold tactile stimulation on their cheek, in the presence/absence of a concomitant light. Participants repeated the SSDT twice, before and after receiving a touch manipulation. Participants were divided into two groups: one received affective touch (CT optimal; n = 32), and the second received non-affective touch (non-CT optimal; n = 34). Levels of arousal (skin conductance levels, SCLs) and mood changes after the touch manipulation were also measured. Affective touch led to an increase in tactile accuracy, as indicated by less false reports of touch and a trend towards higher tactile sensitivity during the subsequent SSDT. Conversely, non-affective touch was found to induce a partial decrease in the correct detection of touch possibly due to a desensitization of skin mechanoreceptors. Both affective and non-affective touch induced a more positive mood and higher SCLs in participants. The increase in SCLs was greater after affective touch. We conclude that receiving affective touch enhances the sense of bodily self therefore increasing perceptual accuracy and awareness. Higher SCLs are suggested to be a possible mediator linking affective touch to a greater tactile accuracy. Clinical implications are discussed.

Vigilance and Signal Detection Theory: An Evaluation of Response Bias Measures

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judi E. See ◽  
Joel S. Warm ◽  
William N. Dember ◽  
Steven R. Howe
Keyword(s):  
Signal Detection ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Signal Detection Theory ◽  
Detection Theory

Sensory and Non-Sensory Factors and the Concept of Externality in Obese Subjects

1983 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick M. Gardner ◽  
Shirley J. Brake ◽  
Beth Reyes ◽  
Dick Maestas
Keyword(s):  
Signal Detection ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Signal Detection Theory ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sensory Sensitivity ◽  
Lower Response ◽  
Visual Threshold ◽  
Obese Subjects ◽  
Psychophysical Task

9 obese and 9 normal subjects performed a psychophysical task in which food- or non-food-related stimuli were briefly flashed tachistoscopically at a speed and intensity near the visual threshold. A signal was presented on one-half the trials and noise only on the other one-half of the trials. Using signal detection theory methodology, separate measures of sensory sensitivity ( d') and response bias (β) were calculated. No differences were noted between obese and normal subjects on measures of sensory sensitivity but significant differences on response bias. Obese subjects had consistently lower response criteria than normal ones. Analysis for subjects categorized by whether they were restrained or unrestrained eaters gave findings identical to those for obese and normal. The importance of using a methodology that separates sensory and non-sensory factors in research on obesity is discussed.

A Computer Program Demonstrating the Effect of the Payoff Matrix on the Signal Detection Measure, Beta

1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet D. Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Computer Program ◽  
Signal Detection ◽  
False Alarm ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Signal Detection Theory ◽  
Visual Display ◽  
Payoff Matrix ◽  
Detection Theory ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
Hit Rates

The computer program described in this article demonstrates the basic concepts of signal detection theory and illustrates the effect of changes in the payoff matrix on beta, a measure of response bias. Observers attempt to identify the trials on which there was a signal in a noisy visual display. They earn or lose points for correct or incorrect answers. After three sets of 100 trials, with a different payoff matrix for each set, the program provides observers with their hit rates, false alarm rates, d' scores, and beta scores for the three sets of trials, as well as the total points they have earned for the 300 trials. The program runs on MS-DOS machines and does not require a computer with graphics capabilities.

Analysis of Diagnostic Tasks in Accounting Research Using Signal Detection Theory

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Ramsay ◽  
Richard M. Tubbs
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Signal Detection ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Signal Detection Theory ◽  
Detection Theory ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Accounting Judgments ◽  
Percentage Correct

Many accounting judgments are diagnostic tasks in which accountants, auditors, managers, or investors discriminate among possible states and decide which one exists. To measure the accuracy of such decisions, most accounting research employs percentage correct, a measure proven to be invalid and unreliable, primarily because it does not control for response bias. This paper describes Signal Detection Theory (SDT), a theoretical model of diagnostic tasks that has been supported empirically in many fields. SDT provides superior measures of accuracy and response bias. We discuss the benefits of employing SDT in accounting research and describe an SDT-based reanalysis of data related to two published accounting studies that results in revised conclusions and important additional insights.

Rediscovering the Past: Gustav Fechner and Signal Detection Theory

1994 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 335-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen W. Link
Keyword(s):  
Signal Detection ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Experimental Psychology ◽  
Signal Detection Theory ◽  
Detection Theory ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
The Past

The origins of experimental psychology are found in the theory of discrimination created by Gustav Fechner The theory advanced by Fechner was the first theory of mental judgment that applied the ideas of Gaussian error to human discrimination Despite its powerful theoretical and empirical results, the theory vanished Later embellishments, such as the addition of response bias found in signal detection theory, gave such theories new life, but Fechner never received the credit due to the founder of psychological detection theory

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