35th Annual Student Research Conference
The Differential Influence of Sensory Modalities on the Perception of Locomotion
Hannah C. Zimmerman*, Lauren E. Happe, Hyun Joon Bang, and Samuel J. Bergman
Dr. Ashley Ramsey, Faculty Mentor
Auditory and visual cues integrate holistically to form perceptions (McGurk & MacDonald, 1976; Harrison et al., 2015). Previous work from our lab has shown that auditory cues have a negligible influence on the perception of human locomotion when unaltered visual cues are simultaneously provided. In order to investigate whether a potential effect of the auditory cues was masked by the visual cues or absent altogether, the current study examined the interaction between the sound of footsteps and three strengths of looming visual cues – either unaltered stimuli of walking feet, blurry stimuli, or a blank screen – on participants’ ratings of the speed of walking. The results suggest that auditory cues affect our perception of locomotion, but only in the absence of more influential visual cues. These findings could help improve virtual reality technologies, video games, cinema, and/or synthetic perception such as in cases of ocular or cochlear damage.
Keywords: McGurk Effect, Human Locomotion, Auditory, Visual, Blur, Incongruent Stimuli, Perception
Topic(s):Psychology
Presentation Type: Asynchronous Virtual Presentation
Session: 4-6
Location: https://flipgrid.com/886a9638
Time: 0:00