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@article{1550525, author = {Nicolas, Serge and Vobořil, Dalibor}, article_location = {Paris}, article_number = {1}, keywords = {Henrich Weber; history of psychology; tactile acuity; Aesthesiometer}, language = {eng}, issn = {0003-5033}, journal = {L’Année psychologique}, title = {Weber’s Compass and Aesthesiometers: History of the technical evolution of devices for tactile discrimination}, url = {https://www.cairn-int.info/resume.php?ID_ARTICLE=E_ANPSY1_191_0097}, volume = {119}, year = {2019} }
TY - JOUR ID - 1550525 AU - Nicolas, Serge - Vobořil, Dalibor PY - 2019 TI - Weber’s Compass and Aesthesiometers: History of the technical evolution of devices for tactile discrimination JF - L’Année psychologique VL - 119 IS - 1 SP - 97-170 EP - 97-170 PB - Presses Universitaires de France SN - 00035033 KW - Henrich Weber KW - history of psychology KW - tactile acuity KW - Aesthesiometer UR - https://www.cairn-int.info/resume.php?ID_ARTICLE=E_ANPSY1_191_0097 L2 - https://www.cairn-int.info/resume.php?ID_ARTICLE=E_ANPSY1_191_0097 N2 - The study of tactile sensitivity necessitates the use of special instruments designed by physiologists and psychologists during the 19th century and at the turn of the 20th century. It was the German physiologist Ernst Henrich Weber (1795-1878), who used classic and beam compasses from the late 1820s in order to study tactile sensitivity in humans. He discov- ered that when the points of a pair of compasses were applied to the skin, the subject’s eyes being closed, they were not felt as distinct separate points unless the inter-compass distance had a certain value, which varied in different regions of the body. The success of Weber’s work, published in 1834, led numerous persons to use compasses in clinical practice and experimental investigations. In the 1840s, the French physiologist and neurologist Charles-Edouard Brown-Sequard (1817-1894) was certainly the first to report the use of Weber’s compass in the field of clinical medicine. But technical improvements were rapidly made to the instru- ments used by Weber. The English physician Edward Henry Sieveking (1816-1904) proposed the use of a new apparatus, called “aesthesiome- ter”, to determine the degree of anesthesia or paralysis, and its progress towards recovery or the reverse. During the 19th century, many firms, specialized in the manufacture of instruments in the field of medical clinics, offered various types of aesthesiometers in trade catalogs. Since at that time physiologists and psychologists were particularly interested in the study of tactile sensitivity, they invented new more precise instru- ments. For example, a new type of aesthesiometer characterized by the use of various calibrated monofilaments was manufactured by Max von Frey (1852-1932) in 1894. This instrument was designed to determine the threshold necessary to produce the feeling of touch or pain when the stimulus is applied to the skin with more or less pressure. This paper presents the history of the technical evolution of the compasses and aes- thesiometers that were used in most psychology and physiology laborato- ries at the turn of the century. These instruments have greatly contributed to the emergence of scientific psychology, in particular by allowing the objective study of attention and mental fatigue. ER -
NICOLAS, Serge and Dalibor VOBOŘIL. Weber’s Compass and Aesthesiometers: History of the technical evolution of devices for tactile discrimination. \textit{L’Année psychologique}. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2019, vol.~119, No~1, p.~97-170. ISSN~0003-5033.
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