The effects of lawful multisensory concordance on visuo-spatial adaptation
by Lewis, David Elwin, M.A., CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO, 2008, 44 pages; 1460367

Abstract:

Organisms perceptually adapt to their changing personal environments in order to perform functions critical to their survival. Perceptual adaptation can be described as the process by which one perceptual system adjusts its interpretation of environmental stimuli to come into agreement with the other perceptual systems. It seems perceptual adaptation requires the multiple sensory patterns to be lawfully concordant, meaning that they describe the same event, yet there have been no findings regarding this hypothesis. The current study examined how different degrees of lawful concordance between multisensory patterns affected visuo-spatial adaptation. One-hundred and thirty-eight participants were recruited from introductory psychology courses at California State University, Fresno. The participants experienced one of four levels of laterally displaced sound and light stimuli in a classic prism adaptation study design. It was hypothesized that the more lawfully related and concordant the sensory patterns were, the more powerful the perceptual aftereffects would be. The results do not support this hypothesis. The expected positive linear relationship between lawful concordance of sensory patterns and the magnitude of the aftereffects was not found. Analysis showed no significant differences in the aftereffect magnitudes between the conditions. Despite the lack of significant differences, our data appear to indicate a negative relationship between lawful concordance and aftereffect magnitude.

 
AdviserLorin Lachs
SchoolCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
SourceMAI/ 47-03, p. , Dec 2008
Source TypeThesis
SubjectsCognitive psychology
Publication Number1460367
Adobe PDF Access the complete dissertation:
 

» Find an electronic copy at your library.
  Use the link below to access a full citation record of this graduate work:
  http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl%3furl_ver=Z39.88-2004%26res_dat=xri:pqdiss%26rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation%26rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:1460367
  If your library subscribes to the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) database, you may be entitled to a free electronic version of this graduate work. If not, you will have the option to purchase one, and access a 24 page preview for free (if available).

About ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
With over 2.3 million records, the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) database is the most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses in the world. It is the database of record for graduate research.

The database includes citations of graduate works ranging from the first U.S. dissertation, accepted in 1861, to those accepted as recently as last semester. Of the 2.3 million graduate works included in the database, ProQuest offers more than 1.9 million in full text formats. Of those, over 860,000 are available in PDF format. More than 60,000 dissertations and theses are added to the database each year.

If you have questions, please feel free to visit the ProQuest Web site - http://www.proquest.com - or call ProQuest Hotline Customer Support at 1-800-521-3042.