ABSTRACT
In varying degrees, all organisms encounter their surroundings mechanically. Common to everyday human behavior is changing the locations and orientations of things. Functional similes in the dynamic touching of spider and human provide significant insights into the informativeness of mechanical contacts. The walking legs, whether eight or six, are subject to patterns of ground reaction forces, and thereby patterns of strain in the exoskeleton, that are specific to the slope, mechanical resistance and, presumably, various other substrate properties of relevance to nocturnal navigation and place learning. The mechanical contacts were those of walking, stepping, and probing with a soft-tipped cane. “Home” was a mechanically indistinct location. The wandering spider’s ability to get about mechanically has parallels in human dynamical touch. Dynamic touch is part and parcel of the haptic perceptual system. Its basis is the deformation of tissue, both temporary and prolonged.
