Rubber Hand Experiment Psychology

A rubber hand experiment conducted at vanderbilt lab in 2011 produced an observable repeatable out of body experience source.

Rubber hand experiment psychology.

Researchers in italy performed the trick on a group of. The trick s usefulness in neuroscience research belies its simplicity. Multisensory integration the area of psychology that works with the study of how information from different sensory modules may be integrated by the nervous system conclusion. In 1998 researchers matthew botvinick and jonathan cohen of the university of pittsburgh pa detailed an experiment that people would later refer to as the rubber hand illusion rhi.

Take one piece of cardboard and draw a straight line down the middle of the longest side. Body transfer illusion is the illusion of owning either a part of a body or an entire body other than one s own thus it is sometimes referred to as body ownership in the research literature. A rubber hand two paint brushes scissors tape and several pieces of cardboard that are 1 ft high by 2 ft long. First build the occluder box.

Experiments with a fake body part have revealed how the brain becomes confused during a party trick known as the rubber hand illusion. The rubber hand experiment plays a small but important roll in researching multisensory integration and. A position that is plausible anatomically with regard to the participant s body then the combination of visual input from the rubber hand and tactile stimulation to the participant s hidden hand produces the feeling that the rubber hand is part of the body in around half of participants. If you ve got a relatively lifelike rubber hand lying around along with a couple of helpers you can create the illusion right now.

In preparation for the experiment obtain the following materials. Since earlier work suggests a right hemispheric dominance for body ownership experience ocklenburg et al 2011 our current experiment was administered only to each participant s left hand and a corresponding rubber hand was employed. When and artificial hand is placed in a position compatible with the participant s own posture i e.