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The Problem with Perceptual Synchrony

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Multidisciplinary Aspects of Time and Time Perception

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 6789))

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Abstract

Perceptual synchrony has received attention as result of physiological studies of neural responses to visual stimuli. The terms synchrony and synchronization are used to refer to stimulus activity, the psychological-systems response to that activity and perception although the latter is not necessarily the same as the systems response. The concern of this paper is the integrity of the idea of perceptual synchrony. The problem with perceptual synchrony is that on close analysis it is a non sequiter and on this basis it is insufficient to explain the conditions under which events will be seen as simultaneous. Instead, the perceptual groupings generally ascribed to perceptual synchrony are better explained in terms of the intervals of time over which stimulus events integrate. Considering the agenda of studies that aim to examine the timing of perceptual grouping, the argument I put forward here recommends interpretation in terms of temporal integration rather than synchronization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Republic of Ireland

    Mark A. Elliott

  2. Center for Applied Perceptual Research, Department of Acoustic Design, Kyushu University, 4-9-1,Shiobaru, Minami-ku, Fukuoka, 815-0032, Japan

    Mark A. Elliott

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  1. Mark A. Elliott
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cognitive Systems Research Institute, Fthiotidos 16, 11523, Athens, Greece

    Argiro Vatakis

  2. Dept. of Psychology and IIASS, International Institute for Advanced Scientific Studies, Second University of Naples, Vietri sul Mare, SA, Italy

    Anna Esposito

  3. Institute for Language and Speech Processing, Athens, Greece

    Maria Giagkou

  4. UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Fred Cummins

  5. Department of Music Studies, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Georgios Papadelis

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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Elliott, M.A. (2011). The Problem with Perceptual Synchrony. In: Vatakis, A., Esposito, A., Giagkou, M., Cummins, F., Papadelis, G. (eds) Multidisciplinary Aspects of Time and Time Perception. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 6789. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21478-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21478-3_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-21477-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-21478-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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