The effects of blindness on tactile and auditory perception in rats

Folklore has long held that blind people gain, relative to normal people, in their sensitivity to other sensory modalities. Although supported only by equivocal evidence, this position probably first appeared in mythology in early Greek literature. Oedipus Rex was attributed greater awareness of people’s nature after this blindness. It is still a prevalent myth in contemporary American culture, to the extent that it appears in “Little Orphan Annie.” Experimental attempts at verification of this point began several years ago, but it remains a controversial issue. Literature on the topic can be divided up into several content areas: the relevance of blindness to auditory sensitivity, the relevance of blindness to tactile sensitivity, the developmental effect of blindness and central vs. peripheral blindness and it affects perception. Studies sampled there represent these content areas.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

1973

Author dc:creator

• Claiborn, James Malcolm

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kenneth L. Beauchamp
• C[?] Collins

• Sensory deprivation
• Blindness Research
• Touch
• Auditory perception
• Rats
• Psychology
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/1810

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-2809