Exposure to asynchronous audiovisual speech extends the temporal window for audiovisual integration

Jordi Navarra, Facultat de Psicologia i Parc Científic de Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona

Abstract
We examined whether monitoring asynchronous audiovisual speech induces a general temporal recalibration of auditory and visual sensory processing. Participants monitored a videotape of a person pronouncing a list of words (Experiment 1) or of a hand playing a musical pattern on a piano (Experiment 2). The audio and video channels were presented either in synchrony, or else asynchronously (with the visual signal leading the auditory signal by 300 ms). Participants were asked to judge the temporal order of pairs of auditory (white noise bursts) and visual stimuli (flashes) that were presented at varying stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) during the experimental session. The results showed that, while monitoring desynchronized speech or music, participants required a longer interval between the auditory and visual stimuli in order to perceive their temporal order correctly, suggesting a widening of the temporal window for audiovisual integration. The fact that no such recalibration occurred when we used longer asynchronies (1000 ms) that exceeded the temporal window for the audiovisual integration (Experiment 3) supports this conclusion.

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