The problem with perceptual synchrony

Mark A. Elliott

pp. 58-66

in: Argiro Vatakis, Anna Esposito, Maria Giagkou, Fred Cummins (eds), Multidisciplinary aspects of time and time perception, Berlin, Springer, 2011

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.