Abstract:
The perceptual integration of 50- and 250-Hz, 500-ms vibrotactile and auditory tones was studied in detection experiments as a function of the relative phase (0?, 72?, 144?, 216?, and 288?) of the tone pulses. Vibrotactile stimuli were delivered through a single-channel vibrator to the left middle fingertip and auditory stimuli were presented diotically through headphones in a background of 50 dB SPL broadband noise. The observers were four adults with normal hearing. The vibrotactile and auditory stimulus levels used each yielded 63-77%-Correct unimodal detection performance in a two-interval two-alternative forced-choice task. Scores for the auditory-alone and tactile-alone conditions averaged roughly 70%-Correct. Mean scores for the auditory plus tactile conditions averaged across different phases were 77.1%-Correct at 50 Hz and 79.6%-Correct at 250 Hz. At 50 Hz, no differences in performance were observed as a function of the relative phase at which the combined auditory and tactile signals were presented. At 250 Hz, significantly higher scores were observed for one phase combination (72?) compared to two of the other four relative phases. Performance on the auditory plus tactile conditions resulted in significant integrative effects and was generally more consistent with a "Pythagorean Sum" model than with either an "Algebraic Sum" or an "Optimum Single Cannel" model of perceptual integration. |
International Journal of Engineering Technology and Scientific Innovation
