Exploring cross-modal perception in a virtual classroom: the effect of visual stimuli on auditory selective attention

Breuer, Carolin; Vollmer, Lukas; Leist, Larissa; Fremerey, Stephan; Raake, Alexander; Klatte, Maria; Fels, Janina · 2025 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1512851

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Summary

This study investigates how visual stimuli influence auditory selective attention (ASA) within a virtual reality (VR) classroom environment. Motivated by the need to bridge the gap between controlled laboratory experiments and complex, multisensory real-world settings, the research aims to determine if cross-modal semantic priming affects ASA switching. Specifically, it examines whether task-irrelevant visual cues facilitate or interfere with the classification of auditory targets and whether the timing of these cues alters integration effects. The researchers conducted two experiments using a VR paradigm where 24 adult participants performed an auditory attention-switching task. Participants were required to categorize animal names (as flying or non-flying) played from specific spatial positions while ignoring distractors. In Experiment 1, visual images of animals were presented concurrently with the auditory stimuli on a virtual blackboard. These images were either congruent or incongruent with the auditory target’s category. Experiment 2 manipulated the onset asynchrony, presenting visual stimuli 500 ms or 750 ms before the auditory stimuli to assess priming effects. Performance was measured via response times and error rates. The results demonstrated that concurrent visual presentation increased response times compared to audio-only conditions. Incongruent visual stimuli caused greater delays than congruent ones, and congruent visuals resulted in fewer errors than incongruent visuals, with audio-only error rates falling in between. In Experiment 2, the timing of visual cues revealed distinct interaction effects. At a 500 ms lead, visually congruent stimuli reduced error rates for auditory incongruent trials, suggesting a positive priming effect. Conversely, at a 750 ms lead, visually incongruent stimuli reduced error rates for auditory incongruent trials, indicating a semantic inhibition of return effect. These findings suggest that cross-modal priming in immersive environments operates differently than classical multisensory integration. The reversal of effects based on stimulus timing highlights the complexity of attention switching in realistic settings. The study concludes that visual stimuli significantly modulate auditory attention, with congruence and timing playing critical roles. This work provides a baseline for future developmental research, particularly in educational contexts where children must navigate distraction-rich, multisensory environments.

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Topics

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• multisensory crossmodal
• multimodal feedback