ABSTRACT
Shape perception by touch is not yet well understood. This is partly because it has been studied much less than vision. But there is also another reason. The information we receive about the features of tactual forms comes from a number of sources. That is not unique to touch. But in touch the relative influence of these sources differs with the size, depth and composition of the forms. That is important. The processes that underlie the recognition of characters in one tactual reading system may not apply to the recognition of the characters in a reading system that uses symbols with characteristics that provide a different balance of perceptual information. In reading by touch, therefore, the question how perceptual processes affect and are affected by the linguistic and cognitive aspects of reading is an integral part of the questions that need to be answered in order to understand language through touch.
