Adaptation and Recovery in Vibrotactile Perception

Abstract

Adaptation and recovery were studied under conditions of constant stimulation of sinusoidal vibration (250 c/s) at three different intensity levels: 40, 47, and 54 db above threshold. A two-step scaling method involving cross-modality matching and numerical scaling of the matching continuum was used. It was found that (1) the perceived intensity decreases exponentially with increased time of stimulation, (2) the decrease in perceived intensity is greater at higher intensity levels, (3) longer time was required for complete adaptation at higher intensities, and (4) the process of recovery is fast, requiring only 2 or 3 minutes.