15:00 - 16:30
Wed—Casino_1.811—Poster3—90
Wed-Poster3
Room:
Room: Casino_1.811
The influence of sound for the interpretation of visual correspondence
Wed—Casino_1.811—Poster3—9003
Presented by: Elisabeth Hein
Elisabeth Hein *Bettina RolkeMeike Kriegeskorte
University of Tübingen
To perceive moving objects, we must associate them across space and time. This correspondence process is the basis for generating stable object representations and for structuring our environment. Using ambiguous apparent motion displays - in which different objects can be connected over time leading to different motion percepts - studies have shown that spatio-temporal as well as feature and semantic information are used to determine correspondence. The aim of our study was to examine whether a sound that is associated with a specific motion can influence correspondence. We used an ambiguous apparent motion display, in which two circular objects were presented in a first frame, followed by the same two objects shifted by one position to the side. Depending on how correspondence was solved, observers can either perceive both objects as moving together (group motion) or one object as moving (or “jumping”) over the other (element motion). We presented either a sound that is associated with bouncing or a sound that is associated with rolling together with the visual apparent motion display. If the sound can influence correspondence, we expected observers to perceive more element motion with the bouncing sound and more group motion with the rolling sound. We found more element motion with the bouncing sound compared to no sound, but no other differences. We conclude that sounds can influence the interpretation of visual correspondence, but this effect is small and might only be present when the sounds perfectly match the visual percept.
Keywords: audition, vision, perceptual organisation, correspondence problem, apparent motion Acknowledgement: This research was supported by DFG project HE 7543/1-2