In two experiments we investigated blindfolded, sighted participants’ capacity to extract the number of raised dots from arrays of braille cells that they scanned once via active touch. The arrays could contain between one and 12 raised dots and estimates were based on scanning with one or more fingers on one or both hands (Experiment 1), or when the dots were as maximally or minimally spaced as the braille code permits (Experiment 2). We sought evidence of discontinuities in performance that reflect more than one mode of enumeration. We found that participants’ estimates of numerosity increased in a linear fashion with actual numerosity, but were increasingly underestimated beyond numerosity of six, and confidence in the judgment declined linearly with increasing numerosity. Finger combinations made no difference to accuracy, errors, or confidence. Increasing dot density had the effect of diminishing perceptual accuracy, exaggerating underestimation and reducing confidence. While perceptual accuracy was generally high up to six raised dots, patterns of confusions and scaling analyses suggest that numerosities of four or less are perceptually unique. In this article, we discuss these data in terms of enumeration in touch and other modalities, and consider whether this discontinuity in enumeration signifies a subitize-to-count or a count-to-estimate transition.

中文翻译：

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通过触觉探索进行凸起点计数


在两项实验中，我们调查了蒙着眼睛、视力正常的参与者从盲文单元阵列中提取凸起点数量的能力，他们通过主动触摸扫描一次盲文单元阵列。阵列可以包含 1 到 12 个凸起点，并且根据用一只手或双手的一根或多根手指扫描进行估计（实验 1），或者当点的间距达到盲文代码允许的最大或最小间距时（实验 2） 。我们寻找反映不止一种枚举模式的绩效不连续性的证据。我们发现，参与者对数字的估计与实际数字呈线性增长，但在数字超过六时越来越被低估，并且对判断的信心随着数字的增加而线性下降。手指组合对准确性、错误或置信度没有影响。增加点密度会降低感知准确性、夸大低估并降低信心。虽然感知准确度通常高达六个凸起点，但混淆模式和尺度分析表明，四个或更少的数量在感知上是独特的。在本文中，我们从触摸枚举和其他模式的角度讨论这些数据，并考虑枚举中的这种不连续性是否意味着子化到计数或计数到估计的转变。