Auditory enhancement of visual temporal order judgment.
Although numerous studies have shown that response times can be speeded by the presentation of multisensory stimuli, here we show that such speeding can be seen even when the second sensory channel fails to provide any task-relevant (i.e. redundant) information, and where cueing appears an unlikely explanation. Study participants performed a visual temporal order judgment task in the presence of task uninformative auditory cues, with the latter sound delayed relative to the latter visual cue. Responses were maximally speeded when the auditory stimulus was delayed by a short time (i.e. 100 ms) relative to the second visual target. These results illustrate a unique form of temporal benefit underlying a multisensory interaction, and form the basis for a novel explanation of these perceptual enhancements.
Hairston
W David
WD
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA. dhair@wfubmc.edu
Hodges
Donald A
DA
Burdette
Jonathan H
JH
Wallace
Mark T
MT
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*