Perceptual dimensions of tactile textures Delphine Picard a, * , Catherine Dacremont b , Dominique Valentin c , Agn es Giboreau d a Department of Psychology, University of Montpellier III, Route de Mende, 34199 Montpellier, France b Ecole Nationale Sup erieure de Biologie Appliqu ee  a la Nutrition et  a l’Alimentation, University of Bourgogne, Dijon, France c Centre Europ een des Sciences du Go^ ut, Dijon, France d Peugeot PSA, Velizy, France Received 26 February 2003; received in revised form 20 June 2003; accepted 4 August 2003 Abstract The present study investigated the perceptual dimensions of everyday tactile textures and the semantics associated with touch experiences. In Experiment 1, the nature of the tactile descriptors present in the memory of 40 volunteers was investigated. Results suggested the ex- istence of a limited but consensual tactile repertory. In Experiment 2, 20 volunteers used a free-sorting task to sort 24 car seat Ô materials, with different tactile properties, on the basis of perceived similarity. Sorted groups were then characterized further by producing verbal labels. Multidimensional scaling and correspondence analysis indicated that the tactile texture space did not exceed four dimensions. The hypothesized perceptual dimensions were soft/ harsh, thin/thick, relief and hardness. Further evidence for the relevance of these dimensions was provided in Experiment 3, in which participants were asked to evaluate the stimuli accord- ing to unipolar adjective scales corresponding to the previously derived dimensions. Ó 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PsycINFO classification: 2320 Keywords: Touch; Texture perception; Multidimensional scaling 1. Introduction To date most psychological studies investigating tactile texture perception have been conducted using artificial stimuli such as dot surfaces, grating patterns Acta Psychologica 114 (2003) 165–184 www.elsevier.com/locate/actpsy * Corresponding author. Tel.: +33-467-791622; fax: +33-467-795565. E-mail address: delphine.picard@univ-montp3.fr (D. Picard). 0001-6918/$ - see front matter Ó 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2003.08.001