Local Signature and Sensational Extensity.

Abstract

Of the various theories aiming to account for local signs, two seem especially worthy of consideration: the sensory-complex theory, according to which sensations from spatial modalities are all respectively alike, but combine to give differences in local signs; and the sensory-element theory, which postulates a slight difference in every sensation by means of which associations of specific location are formed. In the present article reports are made of experiments in which 1 gr. and 10 gr. pressures were applied in one series to a conspicuous vein, and in another to a portion of the skin where no vein was in evidence. Localization of pressure was more accurate on a vein where the subcutaneous tissue is uniform than on other parts of the skin; and the weak stimuli were localized slightly more accurately than the strong. Both of these results would seem to argue against the complex theory and for the sensation-element theory: differences inhere in the elementary qualities of sensation and give rise to awarenesses of location; these minute differences, when combined in perceptual patterns, form the basis for awareness of size and extent. From Psych Bulletin 19:07:00452. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)