Date of Award

Fall 2012

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MSc)

Department

Psychology

Supervisor

Patrick J Bennett

Co-Supervisor

Allison B Sekuler

Language

English

Committee Member

Bruce Milliken

Abstract

Audio-visual temporal processing, and integration of auditory and visual information, is necessary for perceiving the world around us. Although previous research has indicated a slowing of temporal processing in older adults for unisensory stimuli, little work has examined the role of aging on multisensory temporal processing. The goal of this thesis is to use temporal-order judgment (TOJ) tasks to investigate age-related changes in audio-visual temporal processing. Overall, our results indicate that older adults do not demonstrate impairments on simple audio-visual TOJs, but they do exhibit deficits on more complex TOJ tasks. We also found no influence of spatial cues on TOJs for younger or older adults. Finally, we found age differences in complex TOJ tasks could not be explained by changes in the ability of older adults to detect a gap between sequential visual stimuli. The work in the thesis suggests that although there may be slowing in audio-visual temporal processing in complex situations, there are circumstances where audio-visual temporal processing is spared. By categorizing multisensory processing deficits in the elderly, we can aim to improve quality of life by preventing fails and perpetuating social interactions.

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