Factors related to speed and accuracy of tactual discrimination.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The purpose of this expt. was to determine if speed and accuracy of tactual discrimination were related to or affected by differences in sex, handedness, fingers employed in making the discriminations, learning, pressure exerted by the finger tips, and levels of subjective confidence. The stimulus figures utilized had all met or exceeded a 90% criterion in a previous expt. The figures used were 17 upper-case letters, 3 numerals, and 5 geometric forms. 16 subjects (8 men, 4 right-handed and 4 left-handed; and 8 women, 4 right-handed and 4 left-handed) were tested. Results prompted the following conclusions: a great deal of learning took place during a short training session as shown by a marked increase in accuracy and decrease in reaction time. Levels of subjective confidence increased as accuracy increased and reaction time decreased throughout the 8-trial period. The product moment correlation between mean per cent accuracy and mean reaction time was -.70; between mean confidence and mean reaction time -.94; and between mean confidence and mean per cent accuracy .47. In approx. 99% of the discriminations, pressures from zero to 3 oz. were exerted in making the discriminations. No significant differences resulted from discriminations made by left- versus right-handed subjects, males versus females, or any of the 4 right-hand fingers.
Keywords

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: