Cross-modal enhancement of perceived brightness: sensory interaction versus response bias

Percept Psychophys. 2003 Jan;65(1):123-32. doi: 10.3758/bf03194789.

Abstract

Stein, London, Wilkinson, and Price (1996) reported the presence of cross-modal enhancement of perceived visual intensity: Participants tended to rate weak lights as brighter when accompanied by a concurrent pulse of white noise than when presented alone. In the present study, two methods were used to determine whether the enhancement reflects an early-stage sensory process or a later-stage decisional process, such as a response bias. First, enhancement was eliminated when the noise accompanied the light on only 25% versus 50% of the trials. Second, enhancement was absent when tested with a paired-comparison method. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the sound-induced enhancement in judgments of brightness reflects a response bias, rather than an early sensory process--that is, enhancement is the result of a relatively late decisional process.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Decision Making*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Judgment
  • Light*
  • Male
  • Noise
  • Random Allocation
  • Sensory Thresholds / physiology*
  • Visual Perception*