Texture perception in sighted and blind observers

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Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the utility of visual imagery for texture perception. In Experiment 1, sighted, early-blind, and late-blind observers made relative smoothness judgments of abrasive surfaces using active or passive touch. In Experiment 2, subjects compared vision and touch in the accuracy of smoothness detection, using a broad range of textures, including very fine surfaces. No differences appeared between the sighted and the blind, and it did not matter if touch were active or passive. Vision and touch showed similar performance with relatively coarse textures, but touch was superior to vision for much finer surfae textures. The results were consistent with the notion that visual voding of tactual stimuli is not advantageous (or necessary) for texture perception, since touch may hold advantages for the detection of the smoothness of surfaces.

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