Abstract
Binocular rivalry is characterized by the alternating perception experienced when two different images are presented to each eye. There is evidence for both low-level and high-level modulation of binocular rivalry, and while the influence of both systems likely causes the bistable perception an important question remains: how high-level can this modulation occur? Previous studies have used matching and mismatching auditory cues to successfully direct attention to the congruent image. This study examines the influence auditory cues to gender in rivalry between videos of a female or male face reciting the same passage in synch. Ninety participants viewed both videos, one presented to each eye, switching every 20 seconds, while wearing an Oculus Rift headset. There were three within-subject sound conditions; no sound, a female voice, or a male voice. Participants were asked to move a marker along a slider to denote which face (male or female) was more visible along second long-timestamps throughout the course of the video. Although there was a general bias to see the female face across all conditions, we found a reliable gender-consistent interaction: participants were more likely to report seeing the female face when listening to the female voice track than when listening to the male voice track t(89) = 3.17, p = .002. These results suggest that auditory cues to gender can influence the dynamics of binocular rivalry. We discuss the design of follow-up studies to determine whether these effects stem from high-level associations based on gender representation, low-level audio-visual cues, or both.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2018