TEXTURE-PERCEPTION VIA ACTIVE TOUCH

The importance of movement in texture perception by touch has long bee n appreciated, but problematic issues related to the utilization of in formation during active touch persist. How is the repeated demonstrati on of active-passive equivalence in perceptual sensitivity to felt tex ture to be interpreted? What does such equivalence imply about the sou rce(s) of information used to make perceptual judgments of texture? Wh at sort of perceptual subsystem is organized to recover texture by tou ch? What is the role played by the action system in this recovery? The seminal observations of David Katz and J.J. Gibson are recounted and contemporary research is described. Several unresolved issues are outl ined, as are several approaches by which the availability and utilizat ion of information within this particular perceptual-action subsystem can be empirically studied.