Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Responses to Gravity and Touch02:26

Responses to Gravity and Touch

42.4K
Gravitropism: Plant Responses to Gravity
42.4K
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch01:15

Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch

8.7K
The history of therapeutic communication can be traced back to Florence Nightingale, who emphasized the importance of developing trusting relationships with patients. She taught that the presence of nurses with patients results in therapeutic healing.
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
8.7K
Tactile and Chemical Senses01:27

Tactile and Chemical Senses

1.2K
Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex.
1.2K
Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

45.1K
The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
45.1K
Sensory Modalities01:15

Sensory Modalities

4.3K
Sensation typically is the process by which the sensory receptors and sense organs detect stimuli from the internal and external environment and transmit this information to the central nervous system for processing.
General senses refer to the broad category of sensory information detected by receptors in the body and can be further grouped into somatic and visceral senses. Somatic sensations include touch, pressure, temperature, and pain and are essential for navigating our environment and...
4.3K
Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

11.9K
The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the...
11.9K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Structural Basis for Potassium Inhibition of WNK Kinases.

Biochemistry·2026
Same author

Crystal structure of a tRNA acceptor-stem mimic at 1.94 Å resolution.

Acta crystallographica. Section F, Structural biology communications·2026
Same author

Protocol for high-yield bacterial expression and purification of the voltage-dependent anion channel 1 for high-throughput biophysical assays.

STAR protocols·2025
Same author

Structure of WzxE the lipid III flippase for Enterobacterial Common Antigen polysaccharide.

Open biology·2025
Same author

<i>AnACor2.0</i>: a GPU-accelerated open-source software package for analytical absorption corrections in X-ray crystallography.

Journal of applied crystallography·2024
Same author

Experimental localization of metal-binding sites reveals the role of metal ions in type II DNA topoisomerases.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2024
Same journal

An unfinished lecture: Starting from the correspondence between Pei-Sung Tang and B. F. Skinner.

History of psychology·2026
Same journal

The self and the limitations of the intellect: Jung's epistemological synthesis of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Kant.

History of psychology·2026
Same journal

On the prowl for disciplinary vassals: Neurologists, psychiatrists, and clinical psychologists discuss science, technology, and profession at the National Research Council's Conference on Relations of Psychiatry to Psychology (1921).

History of psychology·2026
Same journal

The politics of Kurt Lewin.

History of psychology·2026
Same journal

In memoriam: Michael M. Sokal (1945-2025).

History of psychology·2026
Same journal

Mare tenebrarum, cryptomnesia, and experimental metaphysics: The normal subconscious according to Edward Abramowski (1868-1918).

History of psychology·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 22, 2026

Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans
04:27

Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans

Published on: March 15, 2019

12.1K

Pre-Gibsonian observations on active touch.

Armin Wagner1

  • 1Institute for Design & Assessment of Technology.

History of Psychology
|April 22, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Active touch, involving explorative hand movements, was recognized long before James J. Gibson's 1962 paper. This research highlights earlier European studies on active touch, challenging the traditional narrative of its origin.

More Related Videos

A Tactile Automated Passive-Finger Stimulator TAPS
19:44

A Tactile Automated Passive-Finger Stimulator TAPS

Published on: June 3, 2009

14.3K
Testing Tactile Masking between the Forearms
08:05

Testing Tactile Masking between the Forearms

Published on: February 10, 2016

6.9K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 22, 2026

Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans
04:27

Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans

Published on: March 15, 2019

12.1K
A Tactile Automated Passive-Finger Stimulator TAPS
19:44

A Tactile Automated Passive-Finger Stimulator TAPS

Published on: June 3, 2009

14.3K
Testing Tactile Masking between the Forearms
08:05

Testing Tactile Masking between the Forearms

Published on: February 10, 2016

6.9K

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • History of Science

Background:

  • The traditional view posits James J. Gibson's 1962 paper as the origin of "active touch" research.
  • Pre-Gibson research often treated touch as a passive, receptive sense, neglecting the role of active exploration.
  • This perspective limits understanding of tactile perception and object discrimination.

Observation:

  • This article re-examines the history of "active touch" by analyzing research from German-speaking Europe (early 19th to mid-20th centuries).
  • It challenges the narrative that Gibson's 1962 paper solely introduced the concept of active touch.
  • Earlier European scholarship engaged with active touch as a fundamental concept.

Findings:

  • The concept of active touch was explored and debated in German-speaking Europe well before Gibson's seminal work.
  • These earlier studies treated active touch not as an anomaly but as a subject for theoretical and experimental investigation.
  • The concept facilitated cross-disciplinary discussions and contributed to the evolution of tactile research.

Implications:

  • Revising the historical narrative of active touch research provides a more comprehensive understanding of its origins.
  • Recognizing earlier contributions enriches the theoretical framework of tactile perception and sensorimotor control.
  • This historical perspective can inform contemporary research in psychology, neuroscience, and robotics by highlighting diverse conceptualizations of touch.