Psychology Commons^™

Cross-Modal Enhancement Of Perceived Brightness: Sensory Interaction Versus Response Bias, Yoav Arieh, Lawrence E. Marks, Eric C. Odgaard

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

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, the enhancement was eliminated when the noise accompanied the light on only 25% versus 50% of the trials. Second, the enhancement was absent when tested with a paired-comparison method. These findings are consistent with …