Cross-Modal Influences on Representational Momentum and Representational Gravity

Effects of cross-modal information on representational momentum and on representational gravity (ie on displacement of remembered location in the direction of target motion or in the direction of gravitational attraction, respectively) were examined. In experiment 1, ascending or descending visual motion (in the picture plane) was paired with ascending or descending auditory motion (in frequency space); motion was congruent (both ascending, both descending) or incongruent (one ascending, one descending). Memory for visual location or auditory pitch was probed. Congruence resulted in larger forward displacement for auditory pitch, but did not influence forward displacement for visual location. In experiment 2, horizontal visual motion was paired with ascending, descending, or no auditory motion. Memory for visual location was displaced downward with descending or no auditory motion, and downward displacement was larger for visual motion paired with descending auditory motion than for visual motion paired with ascending auditory motion. Effects of cross-modal information on displacement suggest representational momentum and representational gravity reflect high-level processing.