Rubber Hand Experiment

This is a classic low tech experiment that can help us understand how sight touch and proprioception the sense of body position combine to create a convincing feeling of body ownership one of the foundations of self consciousness nature 1998 vol.

Rubber hand experiment.

A rubber hand two paint brushes scissors tape and several pieces of cardboard that are 1 ft high by 2 ft long. The experiment showed that if the two hands were stroked synchronously and in the same direction the subjects began to experience the rubber hand as their own. When asked to use their right hand to point to their left hand most of the time they pointed toward the rubber hand. 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.

Experiments with a fake body part have revealed how the brain becomes confused during a party trick known as the rubber hand illusion. Researchers in italy performed the trick on a group of. Sixteen were subjected to the rubber hand experiment with both fake and real hands being stroked simultaneously while the remaining 13 in the control group had their hands stroked out of sync. In preparation for the experiment obtain the following materials.

The experimenter stood in front of each seated participant who was asked to extend both arms on the table. Take one piece of cardboard and draw a straight line down the middle of the longest side. First build the occluder box. To experience the rubber hand illusion you ll need a fake hand of some kind an inflated rubber glove will often do the trick a flat piece of cardboard and two.