(See related pages)
After studying the chapter, you should be able to . . .
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State the roles that touch plays, and describe its qualities. Distinguish between touch sensitivity and touch acuity. Explain how each one is measured, and specify the general human threshold for both. |
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Discuss the effects of various surface textures on the perception of touch. |
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Describe those properties of tactile discrimination that make reading embossed letters more difficult than reading Braille. |
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Describe perception of surface temperature. |
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Explain the effect of an individual's mental set on tactile sensitivity. |
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Distinguish among the four categories of touch fibers found in human skin, and discuss in detail the specific properties of each. |
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Describe the relative location and function of the following mechanoreceptors: Meissner corpuscles, Merkel disks, Pacinian corpuscles, Ruffini endings, and free nerve endings. |
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Trace the ascending pathway for touch, and describe the location and the function of the two major classes of neurons involved at this level of tactile perception. |
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Describe the somatosensory cortex and its connections. Explain what is meant by cortical magnification, and discuss its possible benefits. |
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Define the term haptics, and relate it to what Lederman and Klatzky refer to as "exploratory procedures." Specify the importance of haptica and exploratory procedures for tactile perception. |
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Describe the pathways that mediate perception of pain. |
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Explain in detail the gate control theory of pain perception. |
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Explain why the somatosensory cortex is said to be plastic, and discuss the possible benefits of such cortical plasticity. |