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Short-term memory characteristics of vibro-tactile perception in human fingertips

TONG Xin-Yu,, WU Xin-Li, LI Si-Ru, HUANG Jin-Peng, YANG Wen-Zhen^*

rtual Reality Laboratory; Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China

Abstract

This paper discusses the short-term memory of vibro-tactile perception of human fingertips. By using a self-developed vibro-tactile expression device, a recall experiment was firstly carried out among 20 subjects aged 20–30 (10 males and 10 females) to discover the memory span about the vibro-tactile perception of human fingertips. Within this memory span, a cognitive experiment analyzing the recognition accuracy and the reaction time was carried out. The results showed: (1) The vibro-tactile memory span of human fingertip is 4 ± 1; (2) The vibro-tactile memory span increases as the discrete intensity between vibration stimuli increases; (3) Too long or too short vibration duration will reduce the vibro-tactile memory span, and the optimal vibration duration for men is 400 ms, for women is 300 ms; (4) The more the number of vibration stimuli is perceived by the human fingertip, the lower the recognition accuracy and the longer the reaction time it needs; (5) Compared with the vibration stimuli in disorder, people are more likely to remember the vibration stimuli in increasing/decreasing order; (6) The information extraction mechanism of the short-term memory about fingertip vibro-tactile perception bases a point to point scanning process among these stimuli. These results help to understand the human fingertip tactile characteristics and provide a physiological basis for the study of tactile feedback technologies.

Key words: vibro-tactile perception; discrete vibration of intensity; memory span; recognition accuracy; recognition reaction time

Received: 2019-11-08　　Accepted: 2020-03-19

Corresponding author: 杨文珍　　E-mail: ywz@zstu.edu.cn

DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2020.0054

Citing This Article：

TONG Xin-Yu,, WU Xin-Li, LI Si-Ru, HUANG Jin-Peng, YANG Wen-Zhen. Short-term memory characteristics of vibro-tactile perception in human fingertips. Acta Physiol Sin 2020; 72 (5): 643-650 (in Chinese with English abstract).