Names ______& ______Period ______

Skin Sensitivity Lab

Purpose:To measure the sensitivity of various regions of the body.

Background:Touch receptors are located in the skin. Some areas of the body are more sensitive than others – the more sensitive areas have more touch receptors. There are several types of touch receptors. The Meissner’s corpuscles are believed to detect light touch, light pressure, and vibration. This is the type of touch receptor you will be testing in this lab. The density of touch receptors not only varies from area to area on the body, but also changes with age. An older person has a lower density of receptors than a teenager. A teenager has a lower density of receptors than a young child.

Hypothesis: ______

Instructions:

  • Decide which partner will be the patient and which will be the examiner.
  • The patient will close his or her eyes for each trial while the examiner pokes each body part with one, two, or three toothpicks.
  • The patient must answer how many toothpicks he or she thinks they are being poked with.
  • The examiner will then record whether the patient answered correctly in the tables below.
  • Record Yes for a correct answer or No for incorrect answers. Graph your results!

Fingertip

Trial / 1 Toothpick / 2 Toothpicks / 3 Toothpicks
1
2
3
4
Number of Correct Responses ______

Palm of the Hand

Trial / 1 Toothpick / 2 Toothpicks / 3 Toothpicks
1
2
3
4
Number of Correct Responses ______

Back of the Hand

Trial / 1 Toothpick / 2 Toothpicks / 3 Toothpicks
1
2
3
4
Number of Correct Responses ______

Forearm

Trial / 1 Toothpick / 2 Toothpicks / 3 Toothpicks
1
2
3
4
Number of Correct Responses ______

Back of the Neck

Trial / 1 Toothpick / 2 Toothpicks / 3 Toothpicks
1
2
3
4
Number of Correct Responses ______

Graph Your Results:

Reflection Questions: WRITE IN COMPLETE SENTENCES

  1. Was your hypothesis supported or rejected?
  1. On which part of the body did the patient most correctly answer how many toothpicks they were being poked with?
  1. What does the answer to question two indicate about the distribution of touch receptors in the skin in that area?
  1. Why do you think this part of the skin was the most sensitive and possibly has a higher distribution of Meissner’s corpuscles?
  1. What were some of the control variables or constants in this lab? What was the manipulated variable (independent variable)?

Controls: ______

Manipulated Variable: ______