• Not proportional after all: In...

Treffer: Not proportional after all: Investigating speed perception with the beep-speed illusion.

Title:
Not proportional after all: Investigating speed perception with the beep-speed illusion.
Authors:
Merz S; Department of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology & Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, University of Trier, Universitätsring 15, 54286, Trier, Germany. merzs@uni-trier.de.; Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Trier, Germany. merzs@uni-trier.de., Sommerfeld J; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany., Frings C; Department of Psychology, Cognitive Psychology & Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, University of Trier, Universitätsring 15, 54286, Trier, Germany.; Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Trier, Germany., Meyerhoff HS; University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany.
Source:
Attention, perception & psychophysics [Atten Percept Psychophys] 2026 Jan 13; Vol. 88 (2), pp. 48. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jan 13.
Publication Type:
Journal Article
Language:
English
Journal Info:
Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101495384 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1943-393X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19433921 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Atten Percept Psychophys Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):
Publication: 2011- : New York : Springer
Original Publication: Austin, Tex. : Psychonomic Society
MeSH Terms:
Motion Perception* , Pattern Recognition, Visual* , Orientation* , Optical Illusions* , Illusions* , Auditory Perception*, Humans ; Female ; Male ; Adult ; Young Adult ; Attention ; Psychophysics ; Size Perception
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Grant Information:
ME 5568/1-1 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; 1-2 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Contributed Indexing:
Keywords: Audition; Beep-speed illusion; Crossmodal; Motion perception; Speed perception; Vision
Entry Date(s):
Date Created: 20260112 Date Completed: 20260112 Latest Revision: 20260115
Update Code:
20260115
PubMed Central ID:
PMC12795862
DOI:
10.3758/s13414-025-03211-6
PMID:
41526586
Database:
MEDLINE

Weitere Informationen

Recently, a new audiovisual illusion, the beep-speed illusion, was discovered in which a visually presented, linearly moving object is perceived to be faster if directional changes occur simultaneously with a short auditory burst compared to a purely visually presented moving object of the same speed. The present study uses this new illusion to test the representation of motion speed in human perception. Across two experiments (each N = 30), the beep-speed illusion was observed with circular motion of the objects and across different speeds of the audiovisual object. Interestingly, the size of the illusion, as well as the precision of the speed estimation as measured by the just notable difference, was not proportional in size to the audio-visual object speed across the different speeds. These results contradict predictions of proportionality in speed estimation derived from classical Weber law, and are discussed in light of recent theoretical developments in the field of motion/speed perception.
(© 2026. The Author(s).)

Declarations. Conflicts of interest/Competing interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. Ethics approval: The experimental procedures were designed in accordance with the regulations formulated in the Declaration of Helsinki; formal ethics approval was not required given the non-invasive and non-harmful experimental design. Consent to participate: Active consent was obtained from the participants. Consent for publication: Active consent was obtained from the participants.