Development of sensitivity to audiovisual temporal asynchrony during midchildhood.

Abstract

Temporal proximity is one of the key factors determining whether events in different modalities are integrated into a unified percept. Sensitivity to audiovisual temporal asynchrony has been studied in adults in great detail. However, how such sensitivity matures during childhood is poorly understood. We examined perception of audiovisual temporal asynchrony in 7-8-year-olds, 10-11-year-olds, and adults by using a simultaneity judgment task (SJT). Additionally, we evaluated whether non-verbal intelligence, verbal ability, attention skills, or age influenced children's performance. On each trial, participants saw an explosion-shaped figure and heard a 2 kHz pure tone. These occurred at the following stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) - 0, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 ms. In half of all trials, the visual stimulus appeared first (VA condition) while in another half, the auditory stimulus appeared first (AV condition). Both groups of children were significantly more likely than adults to perceive asynchronous events as synchronous at all SOAs exceeding 100 ms, in both VA and AV conditions. Furthermore, only adults exhibited a significant shortening of RT at long SOAs compared to medium SOAs. Sensitivities to the VA and AV temporal asynchronies showed different developmental trajectories, with 10-11-year-olds outperforming 7-8-year-olds at the 300-500 ms SOAs, but only in the AV condition. Lastly, age was the only predictor of children's performance on the SJT. These results provide an important baseline against which children with developmental disorders associated with impaired audiovisual temporal function, such as autism, specific language impairment, and dyslexia may be compared.

Electrophysiological correlates of individual differences in perception of audiovisual temporal asynchrony

“…The ability to detect multisensory temporal asynchrony has a prolonged developmental course, with even adolescents still performing worse than adults (Hillock-Dunn & Wallace, 2012). More importantly, perception of AV asynchrony matures before that of VA asynchrony, with 10-11 children significantly outperforming their 7-8 year old peers on a SJT, but only at AV SOAs (Kaganovich, 2016). Further, several studies have demonstrated that the size of the TBW is malleable and can be reduced through perceptual training (Powers III et al, 2012; Powers III et al, 2009; Stevenson et al, 2013).…”

“…The stimuli and design of this study were identical to those described in two previous publications from our laboratory (Kaganovich, 2016; Kaganovich et al, 2014). A 2 kHz pure tone and a flash of light (shaped as a cartoon explosion, see Figure 1) served as stimuli.…”

“…In this study, we focus on adult data only. Children’s performance on the task was described in earlier studies from our laboratory (Kaganovich, 2016; Kaganovich et al, 2014). At the start of the session, participants watched a video with instructions and practiced the task until it was clear.…”

Behavioral Plasticity of Audiovisual Perception: Rapid Recalibration of Temporal Sensitivity but Not Perceptual Binding Following Adult-Onset Hearing Loss

“…Audiovisual temporal acuity normally undergoes fine-tuning throughout childhood and adolescence (Hillock et al, 2011 ; Hillock-Dunn and Wallace, 2012 ; Lewkowicz and Flom, 2014 ; Kaganovich, 2016 ), making this perceptual ability susceptible to disruption in individuals with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder (Bebko et al, 2006 ; Foss-Feig et al, 2010 ; Kwakye et al, 2011 ; de Boer-Schellekens et al, 2013 ; Stevenson et al, 2014a , b ), dyslexia (Hairston et al, 2005 ; Wallace and Stevenson, 2014 ) and schizophrenia (Foucher et al, 2007 ; Carroll et al, 2008 ; Martin et al, 2013 ; Stekelenburg et al, 2013 ; Haß et al, 2017 ; Stevenson et al, 2017 ). In such cases, atypical audiovisual temporal acuity often manifests as an increased length of time over which audiovisual stimuli are perceptually bound (i.e., the TBW is wider).…”

Assessing individual differences in the speed and accuracy of intersensory processing in young children: The intersensory processing efficiency protocol.

“…In turn, unitization of intersensory information provides a meaningful basis for perception, learning, and memory (Bahrick & Lickliter, 2012). These skills emerge in infancy and are refined across childhood (Bahrick, 2010; Bahrick & Lickliter, 2002; Kaganovich, 2016; Lewkowicz, 2000, 2014). …”