Predictive processing in biological motion perception in audiovisual context

Visual perception of biological motion (BM) is essential in comprehending our environment. Despite the well-established contribution of cross-modal priming to our understanding of BM perception, the influence of expectations in audiovisual settings remains unexplored. The present study investigates the impact of congruent and incongruent auditory cues on detecting BMs presented in point-light displays, exploring the impact of predictive processing on BM perception in the audiovisual context. Participants viewed either congruent auditory priors, which gave the correct information about the BM, or incongruent priors. They were required to detect the BMs as fast and accurately as possible. Our findings revealed shorter reaction times in congruent trials than incongruent ones although accuracy remained unaffected by congruency. Overall, our results highlight that while prior information can facilitate faster detection of human motion, it does not necessarily enhance accuracy.