Crossmodal correspondence between auditory pitch and visual elevation affects temporal ventriloquism

Temporal ventriloquism is the shift in perceived timing of a visual stimulus that occurs when an auditory stimulus is presented close in time. This study investigated whether crossmodal correspondence between auditory pitch and visual elevation modulates temporal ventriloquism. Participants were presented two visual stimuli (above and below fixation) across a range of stimulus onset asynchronies and were asked to judge the order of the events. A task-irrelevant auditory click was presented shortly before the first and another shortly after the second visual stimulus. There were two pitches used (low and high) and the congruency between the auditory and visual stimuli was manipulated. The results show that incongruent pairings between pitch and elevation abolish temporal ventriloquism. In contrast, the crossmodal correspondence effect was absent when the direction of the pitch change was fixed within sessions, reducing the saliency of the pitch change. The results support previous studies suggesting that in addition to spatial and temporal factors, crossmodal correspondences can influence binding of information across the senses, although these effects are likely to be dependent on the saliency of the crossmodal mapping.