Which component of the gesture is most important in the illusion: pre-impact or post-impact? This question has implications for musicians interested in incorporating musically useful gestures into their performances and psychologists interested in theories of sensory integration. To address it, I split the original gestures in half, showing either the pre-impact (left video) or post-impact (right video) motions. In the actual experiment, I included the original gestures as well.
The results are clear - it is the post-impact portion of the gesture driving the illusion. In addition to providing musicians with helpful information on how to best incorporate this gesture into their performances, it offers two insights into understanding the psychology behind this effect. The illusion works by (1) detecting a causal relationship between modalities, which (2) gives the performer a brief time interval in which to "perceptually shape" the experience of the listener.
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Visual influence on the post-impact portion of the gesture
was similar to that observed when viewing
the entire gesture. Influence on the pre-impact
portion of the gesture was negligible.
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