Auditory temporal intervals distort infant perception of visual spatial interval

Nobu Shirai, Department of Psychology, Tokyo Metropolitan University / Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Abstract
Perceived distance between two (or more) objects serially presented at different positions dramatically changes depending on time intervals between onsets of those objects (tau-effect). Kawabe, Miura & Yamada (2007) recently have shown that the tau-effect could occur beyond sensory modalities: perceived positions of elements in a visual apparent motion were distorted by changes of time intervals between auditory stimuli accompanied with the visual apparent motion. Here we report that the basis of the auditory-visual tau-effect may emerge in early life. A total of 24 5- to 8-month-old infants participated in the present study. Visual stimulus was up/downward three-stroke apparent motion (diameter of each element = 3.4deg, distance between elements = 13.4deg, SOA = 300ms). Three short beep sounds were accompanied with the visual apparent motion. Onsets of the first and third beeps were completely synchronized with those of the first and third visual elements, while the second beep preceded/followed the second visual element for/after 150ms. We tested the infants’ looking behaviors to those stimuli using the familiarity-novelty preferential looking method. The results demonstrated that the infants’ perception of the position of the second visual element varied with changes of the onset of the second beep sound.

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