Brass Instrument Psychology

Modified: 2020-03-18

Early psychophysics consisted of discovering the identification and location of those receptors. That era of psychology is often called the "brass-instrument psychology" era because much of the data on hot and cold receptors was collected by brass instruments. In the diagram on the skin senses (see diagram), a brass instrument is shown in silhouette. It has a handle and a large piece of brass attached. The brass part was immersed in either hot or cold water. Then it was touched lightly to the arm of a blindfolded subject, who responded whether or not it felt hot or cold. Notice also in the diagram that the map of the skin is divided up into discrete areas. So, there are places on your skin where you cannot feel hot, other places where you cannot feel cold, and places where you can feel neither pressure nor pain.

Back to Chapter 4 Lectures