The McGurk Effect
February 15, 2016 3:21 PM Subscribe
I came in here expecting to read about the effect of terrible soccer coaching, as in: " Well, the reason the game was stopped after ten minutes is because we were losing by twenty goals, Melissa. It's called the slaughter rule. You know, Melissa, if we played the full game, we'd probably would have lost by hundreds goals. I don't know why I'm saying 'we.' I wasn't out there running around like it was the first time I'd ever used my legs...Melissa."
Oh, wait. That's the McGuirk Effect.
posted by slkinsey at 3:39 PM on February 15, 2016 [81 favorites]
Oh, wait. That's the McGuirk Effect.
posted by slkinsey at 3:39 PM on February 15, 2016 [81 favorites]
Interesting. I heard him saying "fall"on the last word (when watching).
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 3:46 PM on February 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 3:46 PM on February 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Can I just point out how awesome it is that back in 2004, the 4th comment was a home movies reference, and now, in 2016, it has moved up to the 2nd? also it has improved in depth and quality over the years.
posted by some loser at 3:50 PM on February 15, 2016 [15 favorites]
posted by some loser at 3:50 PM on February 15, 2016 [15 favorites]
"I believe this is a beer-"
"No, that's, uh, Sex on the Beach."
"But it's a beer."
"It's a Sex on the Beach-"
"I'm tasting it, it's a beer."
"Well, ah, you're wrong, I'm a bartender. I think I know what I'm doing."
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:59 PM on February 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
"No, that's, uh, Sex on the Beach."
"But it's a beer."
"It's a Sex on the Beach-"
"I'm tasting it, it's a beer."
"Well, ah, you're wrong, I'm a bartender. I think I know what I'm doing."
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:59 PM on February 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
Hm, I'm hard of hearing and depend a lot on lipreading. Now I'm wondering how wrong I'm getting things.
posted by desjardins at 4:23 PM on February 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by desjardins at 4:23 PM on February 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I saw the link from an unrelated person on twitter.
This was weird, because I know what the McGuirk effect is, so I could identify which one was the weird sound, but I wasn't 100% sure what the sound actually was if I didn't close my eyes. (I heard v.)
posted by jeather at 4:29 PM on February 15, 2016
This was weird, because I know what the McGuirk effect is, so I could identify which one was the weird sound, but I wasn't 100% sure what the sound actually was if I didn't close my eyes. (I heard v.)
posted by jeather at 4:29 PM on February 15, 2016
Desjardins, you may be interested in Visemes. Basically, yeah, lipreading is imperfect because not all lip cues are discrete for a phoneme. You probably do better than you think because of context and some sound cues (if you have some hearing and/or amplification).
posted by Lutoslawski at 4:55 PM on February 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Lutoslawski at 4:55 PM on February 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
This is really interesting. I wonder if this is why I have such a hard time understanding what someone is saying if I can't see their face (I try not to be too obvious about staring at peoples' mouths while they talk).
posted by teponaztli at 4:57 PM on February 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by teponaztli at 4:57 PM on February 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Ah, I see. With incorrect visual cues, the brain can be tricked into thinking a soccer coach is a secret agent or even a can of corn.
posted by condour75 at 7:24 PM on February 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by condour75 at 7:24 PM on February 15, 2016 [5 favorites]
You assume more things than you realize, Brendon.
posted by BiggerJ at 7:28 PM on February 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by BiggerJ at 7:28 PM on February 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
This was weird, because I know what the McGuirk effect is, so I could identify which one was the weird sound, but I wasn't 100% sure what the sound actually was if I didn't close my eyes.
The effect is supposed to work even if you're well aware of it. "I've been studying the McGurk Effect for 25 years ... but the effect still works on me. I can't help it." (Go to 2:14 in that video.)
posted by John Cohen at 11:15 PM on February 15, 2016
The effect is supposed to work even if you're well aware of it. "I've been studying the McGurk Effect for 25 years ... but the effect still works on me. I can't help it." (Go to 2:14 in that video.)
posted by John Cohen at 11:15 PM on February 15, 2016
They are both so adorable! And fascinating subject that was news to me - if not others. Thanks for posting.
posted by esto-again at 2:17 AM on February 16, 2016
posted by esto-again at 2:17 AM on February 16, 2016
Ive been familiar with the McGurk effect, but since I dont study auditory systems, Id never thought to check where in the brain this effect is happening. I assume that auditory and visual cortices would be unaffected, although they might display feedback influences. It turns out that the superior temporal sulcus (STS), a locus of autitory-visual integration (handily sitting right between visual and auditory cortices) shows differential fMRI BOLD activity in people affected by the McGurk effect compared to those who are unaffected, and causal manipulation of the STS also affects McGurk percepts. (Sorry if those links are paywalled, I cant tell.)
posted by Illusory contour at 5:55 AM on February 16, 2016
posted by Illusory contour at 5:55 AM on February 16, 2016
Interesting fact: It's actually called the Bl'ferp effect, but everyone keeps hearing it wrong.
posted by quinndexter at 11:46 PM on February 16, 2016
posted by quinndexter at 11:46 PM on February 16, 2016
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posted by unliteral at 3:23 PM on February 15, 2016