Psychophysical Analysis of the Skin Sensitivity to Light Exposure: a Pilot Study
Objective of the study was to investigate the ability of subjects to recognize the effect of light on their skin surface. Methods. A specially designed experimental setup was used for the purpose of the study, which included a LED light source and a control programme. The experimental procedure involved the psychophysical method of two-alternative forced choice. The main experiment consisted of three series of cycles for each participant: first, 10 cycles were presented to fix the initial state; 100 cycles followed to train the subject; then, 10 cycles were used to fix the final state.
Sample. 12 participants took part in the experiment.
Results. showed that the number of correct answers when determining the cycle phase corresponding to the LED switching on, is significantly more than 50% (t = 10,992, df = 1414, p < 0.001).
Conclusion. The conclusions of A.N. Leontiev and N.B. Poznanskaya about the possibility of skin sensitivity to light exposure were confirmed. A biophysical hypothesis is proposed to explain the result.
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Recieved: 12/26/2022
Accepted: 02/25/2023
Published: 05/10/2023
Keywords: skin perception; thermal radiation; light radiation; skin-optical sense; thermoreception
Available online since: 06.05.2023
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