Ventriloquism aftereffect !

[Bernhard Laback <bernhard.laback@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear List,

We are planning an experiment involving the so-called "ventriloquism
aftereffect", i.e. an enduring shift in the perception of the spatial
location of acoustic stimuli after a period of exposure to spatially
disparate and simulataneously presented acoustic and visual stimuli.

We would like to know if, for a 3D-localization task, presenting the
visual stimuli on a 2D-surface (indicating the stimulus position by
means of a coordinate system or a perspective view with/without
3D-simulation on a computer monitor) and presenting the auditory stimuli
via headphones (individually measured HRTFs), would initiate the
"ventriloquism aftereffect".

The main question is: Would 2D display of the visual stimuli, which is a
somehow artificial and abstract presentation, lead to a "complete"
remapping of auditory space, including stimulus locations in-between
those presented in the training session, or would it just cause
re-association of auditory locations with altered visual locations (for
the specific locations tested in the training period, only)?

Thanks in advance,

Bernhard Laback

--
***************************
Bernhard Laback, Ph.D.
Acoustics Research Institute
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Liebigg. 5, A-1010 Wien
Austria
Tel.: 0043-1-4277-29514
Fax.: 0043-1-4277-9296
http://www.kfs.oeaw.ac.at/
***************************