HEAR THIS, READ THAT; AUDIOVISUAL INTEGRATION EFFECTS ON RECOGNITION MEMORY

Abstract

Our experience with the world depends on how we integrate sensory information. Multisensory integration generates contextually rich experiences, which are more distinct and more easily retrievable than their unisensory counterparts. Here, we report a series of experiments examining the impact semantic audiovisual (AV) congruency has on recognition memory. Participants were presented with AV word pairs which could either be the same or different (i.e., hear “ring”, see “phone”) followed by a recognition test. Recognition memory was found to be improved for words following incongruent presentations. Results suggest higher cognitive processes may be recruited to resolve sensory conflicts, leading to superior recognition for incongruent words. Integration may help in easing the processing of multisensory events, but does not promote the processing needed to make them distinctive.