PERCEPTION OF FABRICS: A TEXTURALCENTRIC STUDY OF THE VISUAL AND TACTILE RESPONSES OF ADULT AND ELDERLY WOMEN

The texturalcentric model of non‐attribute‐based visual and tactile response to textural fabric surfaces was used to elicit definitive qualities or dimensions of textural fabric surfaces. Multidimensional scaling analysis permitted subjects to provide numeric judgements of fabrics rather than using words with individuals' historic definitions of those terms, or without understanding some terms. Objectives of the study included validating the attributes identified by college students, and ascertaining the persistence of attributes that contribute to visual and tactile perception of adult women (25–45 years of age) and older women (60 years of age and older). One‐hundred‐and‐twenty subjects (50 per cent adult, 50 per cent older) provided visual or tactile ratings of the similarities of 30 fabrics. Data were subjected to multidimensional scaling analysis and coefficients of congruence were calculated. Dimensions or characteristics of fabrics were named using bipolar adjectives: rough to smooth, plane to depth, irregular to regular surface units, shiny to matt, fine to coarse, lightweight to heavyweight, simple to complex, hard to soft compressibility, pliable to stiff, harsh to slippery, small units to large units, open to compact, and soft to bumpy‐rough. From these, a schema for the textural perception of fabric surfaces, was modelled.