The McGurk Effect

Which sense do you think is more dominant....

taste or smell?

seeing or hearing?

touch or taste?

Watch:

The McGurk Effect

The McGurk Effect

 

Watch video

 

1.     What do you think this video is mainly about?

2.     What surprised you the most while watching?

3.     What is one key idea you took away from it?

 

 

 

Watch again, fill the gaps:

At any ___ moment we are being ____________ by sensory information.

 

Our brains do a ____________ job of making sense of it ___.

 

It seems easy _________ to separate the sounds we hear from the ______ we see, but there is one illusion that reveals this ____ always the _____.

 

In the illusion, _____ we see ___________ what we hear.

 

If we close our eyes we actually hear the sound ___ it ___.

 

If we open our eyes, we actually see how the mouth movements can influence _____ we’re hearing.

 

What’s remarkable about this illusion ___ even knowing how it’s _______ doesn’t seem to ____ a difference.

 

The speech brain just takes in that information. It doesn't care what _______ knowledge you bring to _____.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Comprehension

1. What does “bombarded by sensory information” suggest about how much we see and hear?
A. We receive a large amount of sensory input all the time
B. We experience very little at once
C. Only one sense works at a time

2. What does it mean that the brain “makes sense of it all”?
A. The brain organises and interprets sensory input
B. The brain ignores most information
C. The brain only focuses on sound

3. In this illusion, what does “overrides” mean?
A. One sense dominates or replaces another
B. All senses work equally
C. One sense stops working

4. Why is the effect described as “bizarre”?
A. It is confusing and unexpected
B. It is normal and easy to understand
C. It only affects some people

5. What do “conflicting information” and “salient information” mean here?
A. Information that disagrees / the most noticeable sense
B. Information that matches / the weakest sense
C. Information that repeats / the quietest sense

 

Reflection

6.     Do you notice times in daily life when your senses compete? Give an example.

7.     Does this illusion make you trust your brain more or less? Why?

8.     How does “what we see overrides what we hear” change how you think about your senses?

9.     Why do you think the illusion still works even when you understand it?

10. Would you rather your brain be ‘truthful’ or ‘efficient’? Why?

_______________

Check

 

At any one moment we are being bombarded by sensory information.

Our brains do a remarkable job of making sense of it all.

It seems easy enough to separate the sounds we hear from the sights we see, but there is one illusion that reveals this isn't always the case.

In the illusion, what we see overrides what we hear.

If we close our eyes we actually hear the sound as it is.

If we open our eyes, we actually see how the mouth movements can influence what we’re hearing.

What’s remarkable about this illusion is even knowing how it’s done doesn’t seem to make a difference.

The speech brain just takes in that information. It doesn't care what outside knowledge you bring to bear.

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