Previous studies have examined whether audio-visual integration changes in older age, with some studies reporting age-related differences and others reporting no differences. Most studies have either used very basic and ambiguous stimuli (e.g., flash/beep) or highly contextualized, causally related stimuli (e.g., speech). However, few have used tasks that fall somewhere between the extremes of this continuum, such as those that include contextualized, causally related stimuli that are not speech-based; for example, audio-visual impact events. The present study used a paradigm requiring duration estimates and temporal order judgements (TOJ) of audio-visual impact events. Specifically, the Schutz–Lipscomb illusion, in which the perceived duration of a percussive tone is influenced by the length of the visual striking gesture, was examined in younger and older adults. Twenty-one younger and 21 older adult participants were presented with a visual point-light representation of a percussive impact event (i.e., a marimbist striking their instrument with a long or short gesture) combined with a percussive auditory tone. Participants completed a tone duration judgement task and a TOJ task. Five audio-visual temporal offsets (−400 to +400 ms) and five spatial offsets (from −90 to +90°) were randomly introduced. Results demonstrated that the strength of the illusion did not differ between older and younger adults and was not influenced by spatial or temporal offsets. Older adults showed an ‘auditory first bias’ when making TOJs. The current findings expand what is known about age-related differences in audio-visual integration by considering them in the context of impact-related events.

先前的研究已经检验了视听整合是否会随着年龄的增长而变化，一些研究报告了与年龄相关的差异，而另一些研究则报告没有差异。大多数研究要么使用非常基本且模糊的刺激（例如，闪光/蜂鸣声），要么使用高度情境化、因果相关的刺激（例如，语音）。然而，很少有人使用过处于这个连续体的极端之间的任务，例如那些包含情境化、因果相关的刺激但不基于语音的任务；例如，视听影响事件。本研究使用的范例需要对视听影响事件进行持续时间估计和时间顺序判断（TOJ）。具体来说，在年轻人和老年人中对舒茨-利普斯科姆错觉进行了研究，其中敲击音调的感知持续时间受到视觉打击手势长度的影响。向 21 名年轻参与者和 21 名老年人参与者展示了敲击撞击事件（即马林琴演奏者用长或短的手势敲击乐器）的视觉点光表现以及敲击听觉音调。参与者完成了音调持续时间判断任务和 TOJ 任务。随机引入五个视听时间偏移（−400 至 +400 ms）和五个空间偏移（从−90 至 +90°）。结果表明，老年人和年轻人之间的错觉强度没有差异，并且不受空间或时间偏移的影响。老年人在制作 TOJ 时表现出“听觉第一偏见”。目前的研究结果通过在影响相关事件的背景下考虑视听整合中与年龄相关的差异，扩大了人们对这些差异的了解。