LEAD

Although touch provides a rich variety of information about environment, relatively little is known about tactile cognition. Touch allows us to identify objects in the absence of vision (in the case of visual blindness, in the dark, or when we are looking for an object in our pocket), to evaluate objects' quality, or to judge the pleasantness of materials via their texture. In recent works, we aimed to relate the topographical characteristics of textured surfaces to their perceptual attributes (e.g., Faucheu et al., 2019). The use of behavioral and physiological measurements, and the extension of these works to other textures (textiles for example) should allow us to better understand what determines the valence and intensity of the hedonic perception of textures. In addition, people differ greatly in their « need for touch” when purchasing objects or interacting with others. This “need for touch” varies according to its autotelic dimension which refers to the extent to which touch is conceived as an end in itself (Peck & Childers 2003). Although pleasant touch sensitivity appears early in development (Fairhurst et al., 2014), some people show an aversion to touch (Wilhelm et al., 2001). For these reasons, this project will also investigate individual characteristics (cognitive, personality traits, the way people relate to touch, etc.) likely to mediate the relationships between topographic properties and perceptual attributes of textures. The work carried out within the framework of this project should therefore allow to establish innovative procedures to assess the hedonic perception of textures, to characterize the textures according to topographic and perceptual properties and to contribute to the better understanding of touch.