The McGurk Effect: What You See Affects What You Hear (VIDEO)

Don't believe your ears.

By changing the way a person looks, you can affect how you perceive their sound. In essence, by changing what you see, you change what you hear.

The phenomenon of the McGurk effect (named after the Scottish psychologist Harry McGurk) still can't be explained, despite its simplicity. Perhaps even more amazingly, even once you know what's going on it's still impossible to avoid.

While you might think of each sense as independent from the others, the McGurk phenomenon shows just how linked everything is. Sight and sound, which seem like two entirely adverse senses can definitely have an effect on each other in this case.

Professor Lawrence Rosenblum of the University of California, Riverside gave the BBC a little lesson in the McGurk effect, as you can see in the video below. If you don't believe it all, simply give it a listen with your eyes closed.

WATCH:

Comments

[DannyDiamond]

06:18 PM on 09/08/2011

I say Fa you say Ba..

[dblueII]

07:19 PM on 09/07/2011

Freakin amazing.

[regulargal]

03:37 PM on 09/07/2011

Is like the tea party. They speak of theocracy, but say it in such a way that it is perceived by some as democracy.

[Sardar Mohkim Khan]

08:06 AM on 09/07/2011

Amazing indeed - i know he says Bah - but seeing it, it "sounds" different..

[hsstanton]

11:26 PM on 09/06/2011

I guess I don't get it. Where's the mind blowing part? Is it supposed to be mind blowing that he says baaa when he's mouthing vaaa? Maybe it's my speakers or something but all I hear is baaa. Disappointing, I wanted to be blown. my mind that is.
Purposeful Freudian slip since I just read about the principal and the junkyard guy....

[ThreeCrows]

07:49 PM on 09/06/2011

The McGurk effect is a trippy mind bending test. try it out.

[ImJustWondering]

06:45 PM on 09/06/2011

Very interesting! The Fa movement didn't have much of a F (an F?) but the Ba movement did seem to have more of a pronounced B sound.

Or maybe that's just me... and him.