The shape of the vibrotactile loudness function: the effect of stimulus repetition and skin-contactor coupling

In the psychophysical literature describing the relationships between physical and psychological magnitudes, as physical intensity increases, perceived intensity often grows much faster near threshold than at higher levels. In this laboratory, however, the loudness curve for sinusoidal vibrotactile stimuli was best fit by a single-limbed function rather than by the expected two-limbed function. In the present study, we measured the growth of vibrotactile loudness of 250-Hz sinusoidal stimuli by the method of absolute magnitude estimation to explore the source of the one- versus two-limbed discrepancy. The number of times that the stimulus was presented was varied, as well as whether the stimulator contacted the skin with constant force or constant penetration. Neither of these manipulations affected the shape of the loudness function consistently. Number of repetitions influenced the shapes of the magnitude estimation functions, but only for a few individuals. Skin-contactor coupling did not affect the shapes of the functions, although the absolute level (vibrotactile loudness) was consistently greater for constant indentation.