Stimulus Equivalence of Auditory and Visual Patterns in an Intermodal Discrimination Task

Abstract

100 college students were tested on cross-modal discrimination problems in an effort to determine possible bases for translating patterned stimuli between the visual and auditory modalities. 160 4-choice oddity problems were presented as auditory patterns with the solution requiring a response to visual equivalents. Of the 5 pattern characteristics related to discrimination, it was found that the presence of all pattern characteristics facilitated inter-modal discrimination with the exception of a baseline for pitch (visual height). In addition, increasing pattern complexity facilitated performance. The data were interpreted as supporting central factors in pattern perception.