Source of variation on lingual vibrotactile thresholds: II. Adequate experimenter training

Abstract

Vibrotactile thresholds were obtained from the anterior midline of the tongue for 10 randomly selected normal adults. Results were subsequently compared with an initial set of data obtained from three different examiners with varying degrees of exposure to threshold assessment technique. The examiner for this study was the inexperienced examiner from the initial investigation, who obtained significantly poorer threshold results than the other two experienced examiners, The purpose of this investigation was, therefore, to further explore what constituted adequate lingual vibrotactile threshold training for the novice examiner. Results of statistical analysis revealed that further practice on the part of the inexperienced examiner in threshold testing led to threshold values that were similar to those of the original experienced examiners. Implications of adequate experimenter training are discussed.