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15 - Mechanisms of simultaneity constancy

from Part III - Temporal phenomena: binding and asynchrony

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2010

By
Laurence Harris ,
Vanessa Harrar ,
Philip Jaekl  and
Agnieszka Kopinska
Edited by
Romi Nijhawan  and
Beena Khurana
Romi Nijhawan
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Beena Khurana
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
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Summary

Summary

There is a delay before sensory information arising from a given event reaches the central nervous system. This delay may be different for information carried by different senses. It will also vary depending on how far the event is from the observer and stimulus properties such as intensity. However, it seems that at least some of these processing time differences can be compensated for by a mechanism that resynchronizes asynchronous signals and enables us to perceive simultaneity correctly. This chapter explores how effectively simultaneity constancy can be achieved, both intramodally within the visual and tactile systems and cross-modally between combinations of auditory, visual, and tactile stimuli. We propose and provide support for a three-stage model of simultaneity constancy in which (1) signals within temporal and spatial windows are identified as corresponding to a single event, (2) a crude resynchronization is applied based on simple rules corresponding to the average processing speed differences between the individual sensory systems, and (3) fine-tuning adjustments are applied based on previous experience with particular combinations of stimuli.

Introduction

Although time is essential for the perception of the outside world, there is no energy that carries duration information, and consequently there can be no sensory system for time. Time needs to be constructed by the brain, and because this process itself takes time, it follows that the perception of when an event occurs must necessarily lag behind the occurrence of the event itself.

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Space and Time in Perception and Action , pp. 232 - 253
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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