Energy integration in intersensory facilitation

Conducted 2 experiments to explore facilitative effects obtained in visual RT when an auditory event occurs in close temporal proximity to the reaction signal. A particular model which assumes intersensory summation of stimulus intensity (energy integration) was tested with 2 male and 2 female undergraduates in Exp. I, and 4 adults in Exp. II. As predicted, the magnitude of the difference between visual and bisensory RT was directly related to auditory intensity and inversely related to visual intensity, although bisensory RT was inversely related to both intensities. The magnitude of the effect was approximately symmetric regarding temporal asynchrony in Exp. II, where the auditory event could either precede or follow the visual event. However, systematic deviations from symmetry occurred, related to other aspects of facilitation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).