Abstract
TEMPERATURE and texture have both been suggested as possible normal explanations of the ‘skin-vision’ phenomenon1. Neither of them explains Russian claims of perception at a distance (claims not supported by Barrett and Rice-Evans2 using a low level of illumination); however, they do provide potential cues in situations where touch is involved. Colourants may give surfaces with characteristic textures and the colour of a surface will affect the amount of heat it absorbs. Recently, Buckhout3 found that, even with illumination provided by a 40-W bulb (a good source of infrared radiation), out of 80 subjects not one could distinguish between 10 colours in 90 presentations. He controlled texture by covering the colours with a thin layer of plastic. In the experiment reported here I investigated what part both texture and temperature might play in a very simple situation: that of a black–white discrimination.
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References
Liddle, D., Discovery, 25, 22 (1964).
Barrett, S. M., and Rice-Evans, P., Nature, 203, 993 (1964).
Buckhout, R., Percept. Mot. Skills, 20, 191 (1965).
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FRENCH, C. Tactile-vision: Thermal and Texture Cues in the Discrimination of Black and White. Nature 208, 1352 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/2081352a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2081352a0
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