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The Crossmodal Congruency Task as a Means to Obtain an Objective Behavioral Measure in the Rubber Hand Illusion Paradigm
Published on: July 26, 2013
15.9K
Can impersonal touch replace interpersonal touch? An investigation using the rubber hand illusion.
Jaehyoung Bae1, Christian Wallraven1,2
1Department of Brain and Cognitive Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Plos One
|May 7, 2025
Summary
Impersonal touch, like a thermal probe, can be as pleasant as interpersonal touch during body ownership illusions. This finding suggests gentle, CT-optimal touch provides similar subjective experiences regardless of the source.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Somatosensation
Background:
- Socio-emotional well-being relies on tactile interactions sensed by C-tactile (CT) afferents.
- CT afferents respond to gentle, slow touch at typical skin temperatures, crucial for pleasantness.
- Investigating impersonal touch's pleasantness compared to interpersonal touch is vital for understanding touch perception.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the pleasantness of impersonal touch (thermal probe) versus interpersonal touch (human hand) within a body ownership illusion paradigm.
- To determine if CT-optimal parameters in impersonal touch elicit comparable subjective experiences to interpersonal touch.
- To explore correlations between touch perception measures (Need-For-Touch, touch deprivation) and illusion/affective ratings.
Main Methods:
- A rubber hand illusion (RHI) paradigm was employed with N=45 healthy participants.
- Two within-participant conditions: impersonal touch (thermal probe at ~32°C) and interpersonal touch (human hand).
- Touch was applied at CT-compatible speeds (3cm/s) by a trained experimenter; pleasantness, touch deprivation, and NFT scores were recorded.
Main Results:
- The rubber hand illusion was equally effective in both interpersonal and impersonal touch conditions.
- No statistically significant difference in pleasantness ratings was found between impersonal and interpersonal touch.
- Need-For-Touch scores and touch deprivation measures did not correlate with RHI or affective ratings.
Conclusions:
- Impersonal touch, when delivered with CT-optimal parameters, can provide a pleasant subjective experience comparable to interpersonal touch.
- The study challenges the necessity of human-to-human contact for experiencing pleasant touch within specific experimental paradigms.
- Findings suggest that the physical characteristics of touch, rather than its interpersonal source, may significantly contribute to pleasantness in certain contexts.
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