Mind Hacks

Hack #57. Combine Modalities to Increase Intensity

Events that affect more than one sense feel more intense in both of them.

The vision and audition chapters (Chapter 2 and Chapter 4, respectively) of this book look at the senses individually, just as a lot of psychologists have over the years. But interesting things begin to happen when you look at the senses as they interact with one another. ¹

Multisensory information is the norm in the real world, after all. Tigers smell strong and rustle as they creep through the undergrowth toward you. Fire shines and crackles as it burns. Your child says your name as she shakes your shoulder to wake you up.

These examples all suggest that the most basic kind of interaction between two senses should be the enhanced response to an event that generates two kinds of stimulation rather than just one. Information from one sense is more likely to be coincidence; simultaneous information on two senses is a good clue that you have detected a real event.

In Action

We can see the interaction of information hitting two senses at once in all sorts of situations. People sound clearer when we can see their lips [[Hack #59]]. Movies feel more impressive when they have a sound track. If someone gets a tap on one hand as they simultaneously see two flashes of light, one on each side, the light on the same side as the hand tap will appear brighter.

Helge Gillmeister and Martin Eimer of Birkbeck College, University of London, have found that people experience sounds ...