Feeling what you hear: task-irrelevant sounds modulate tactile perception delivered via a touch screen

Abstract

Several recent studies of crossmodal perception have demonstrated that the presentation of task-irrelevant auditory stimuli can modulate the number of tactile stimuli that a person perceives. In the present study, we attempted to extend these findings concerning audiotactile interactions in human information processing to a touch screen device. Two experiments were conducted in order to address the following research questions: 1) Can the presentation of task-irrelevant sounds be used to modify the perception of the number of tactile pulses delivered via a touch-screen device? 2) Do task-irrelevant auditory stimuli have a more pronounced effect on the tactile perception of numerosity when the task conditions become more attentionally-demanding (i.e., under conditions of dual-tasking)? The results of both experiments demonstrate that the presentation of task-irrelevant sounds can modulate the number of vibrotactile targets that a participant will perceive. What is more, task-irrelevant sounds had a larger effect on tactile perception when the participants had to perform a secondary attention-demanding task at the same time.