Abstract
We examined how visual recalibration of apparent sound location obtained at a particular location generalizes to untrained locations. Participants pointed toward the origin of tone bursts scattered along the azimuth, before and after repeated exposure to bursts in one particular location, synchronized with point flashes of light a constant distance to their left/right. Adapter tones were presented straight ahead in Experiment 1, and in the left or right periphery in Experiment 2. With both arrangements, different generalization patterns were obtained on the visual distractor's side of the auditory adapter and on the opposite side. On the distractor side, recalibration generalized following a descending gradient; practically no generalization was observed on the other side. This dependence of generalization patterns on the direction of the discordance imposed during adaptation has not been reported before, perhaps because the experimental designs in use did not allow its observation.
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The present work was supported by the Belgian National Fund for Collective Fundamental Research (Contract 10759/2001 to Régine Kolinsky and P.B.). Constructive criticisms by three anonymous reviewers and editor Mark Pitt are gratefully acknowledged.
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Bertelson, P., Frissen, I., Vroomen, J. et al. The aftereffects of ventriloquism: Patterns of spatial generalization. Perception & Psychophysics 68, 428–436 (2006). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193687
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193687