Authors: Xavier Corveleyn Joan LopezMoliner Yann Coello
Publish Date: 2015/08/18
Volume: 233, Issue: 12, Pages: 3379-3392
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that asynchrony in perceived changes in the visual attributes of an object is attenuated when the object is the target of a manual reaching action eg Corveleyn et al in J Vis 2012 doi 101167/121120 In the present study we examined the temporal and spatial constraints associated with the effect of action on sensory binding Participants performed a temporal order judgment task which required them to judge which changed first the position or the colour of a visual stimulus either while performing a concurrent motor task manual acquisition of a visual target or not perceptual task In Experiment 1 the fixedattribute change colour or position occurred 0 250 500 or 1000 ms following the end of the motor action or the presentation of an auditory cue while the variableattribute change position or colour occurred randomly within an interval of ±200 ms from the fixedattribute change In Experiment 2 the visual stimulus was presented at a distance of 0 2 4 or 8 cm from a central fixation cross which was the target in the motor task The fixed attribute colour or position changed 700 ms after an auditory cue perceptual task or when the hand reached the visual target motor task The variableattribute change position or colour again occurred within an interval of ±200 ms from the fixedattribute change Statistical analysis of the point of subjective simultaneity revealed that performing a motor action reduced the perceived temporal asynchrony in the perceptual task but only when the visual changes occurred less than 500 ms for the fixed attribute following movement execution Exp 1 and at a distance of less than 4 cm from the movement endpoint Exp 2 These results indicate that actioninduced sensory binding requires temporal contiguity and spatial congruency between the endpoint of the action and its visual consequencesFunding was provided by the French National Research Agency ANR11EQPX0023 European Union FEDER SCVIRDIVE and University Lille 3 as well as by the Catalan government 2014SGR79 and Ministry of Economy and Competition of the Spanish government PSI201341568P The second author Joan LópezMoliner was supported by an Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats Academia Distinguished Professorship award
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