When what you hear influences when you see: listening to an auditory rhythm influences the temporal allocation of visual attention

Psychol Sci. 2013 Jan 1;24(1):11-8. doi: 10.1177/0956797612446707. Epub 2012 Nov 16.

Abstract

The three experiments reported here demonstrated a cross-modal influence of an auditory rhythm on the temporal allocation of visual attention. In Experiment 1, participants moved their eyes to a test dot with a temporal onset that was either synchronous or asynchronous with a preceding auditory rhythm. Saccadic latencies were faster for the synchronous condition than for the asynchronous conditions. In Experiment 2, the effect was replicated in a condition in which the auditory context stopped prior to the onset of the test dot, and the effect did not occur in a condition in which auditory tones were presented at irregular intervals. Experiment 3 replicated the effect using an accuracy measure within a nontimed visual task. Together, the experiments' findings support a general entrainment perspective on attention to events over time.

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation
  • Attention*
  • Auditory Perception*
  • Humans
  • Judgment
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual*
  • Reaction Time
  • Saccades*
  • Time Perception*