Semantic Congruence and Perception: An Experimental Investigation
Authors
Spilotros, Francesco Luciano ; Parzy, Emmanuel
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2010
Submitted on
2010-05-28
Pages
75
Abstract
Denne afhandling undersøger semantisk kongruens i perception. Semantisk kongruens beskriver, hvor godt betydningen af en stimulus passer til dens kontekst eller kilde. Den ses som en top-down faktor, der fremhæver hukommelse og tidligere erfaringers rolle i, hvordan vi opfatter verden. Studiet knytter dette til Hermann von Helmholtz’ teori om ubevidst inferens, som siger, at perception bygger på lærte forventninger. Vi argumenterer for, at semantisk kongruens er forenelig med ubevidst inferens og kan være et centralt begreb i perceptuel behandling, og at opbygning af semantiske forbindelser mellem stimuli er et hovedmål i perceptuelle processer. Efter en gennemgang af, hvordan semantisk kongruens er blevet studeret, og en definition af begrebet, gennemførte vi et eksperiment om lokalisering af lydkilder. Deltagere skulle finde, hvor en lyd kom fra, når lyden enten stemte overens med betydningen af objektet, der producerede den (kongruent), eller var et abstrakt lydsignal. Lyde, der var semantisk kongruente med deres kilde, blev lokaliseret mere præcist end abstrakte lyde. En forventet effekt af semantisk inkongruens kunne ikke observeres med den anvendte forsøgsopstilling.
This thesis examines semantic congruence in perception. Semantic congruence describes how well the meaning of a stimulus fits its context or source. It is viewed as a top-down influence, emphasizing the role of memory and past experience in how we perceive. The study links this idea to Hermann von Helmholtz’s theory of unconscious inference, which holds that perception relies on learned expectations. We argue that semantic congruence is compatible with unconscious inference and may be a central concept in perceptual processing, and that forming semantic links between stimuli is a key objective of perceptual processes. After reviewing prior work on semantic congruence and defining the term, we conducted an experiment on sound-source localization. Participants tried to locate where a sound came from when it either matched the meaning of the object producing it (congruent) or was an abstract audio signal. Sounds that were semantically congruent with their source were localized more accurately than abstract sounds. An expected effect of semantic incongruence could not be observed with the experimental design used.
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