Perception, Exploration, and the Primacy of Touch

This chapter addresses the question of whether and how the relationship between touch, the body, and bodily activity might be distinctive. I begin by raising a problem for any claim concerning the nature of “touch”: it is unclear what touch is, and all generalizations concerning touch are susceptible to counterexamples. Following this, I consider a recent formulation of the view that tactual perception sometimes utilizes bodily exploration in a distinctive way, and show why that view is problematic. I go on to address various formulations of the claim that touch is somehow more fundamental than the other senses, insofar as it is more intimately bound up with our bodily nature. All of these turn out to be unclear or implausible. I conclude that the most plausible case for the primacy of touch involves an appeal to its diversity, rather than to any particular characteristic of touch.

Constructivist and ecological approaches in tactual perception

Constructivist and ecological approaches are also observed in tactile perception studies. The question is whether identification and localization are dissociated in the tactile modality as well, and whether Norman's conception may be generalized to the field of touch. An analogue to blindsight was evidenced in passive touch, but no such dissociation was observed in active touch. A study is in progress in this domain.