Concurrent musical pitch height biases judgment of visual brightness

Abstract

The integration of music sounds with concurrent visual scenes or objects is a occurrence in our daily lives, attracting the attention of researchers investigating how music influences our perceptions of simultaneous visuals. This study specifically investigates the role of musical pitch height in shaping our judgments of visual brightness during concurrent music–visual events. Participants were presented with pitch-modified versions of a wide range of emotional music pieces alongside various visual stimuli. The results demonstrate that lower-pitched music tends to elicit darker judgments of visual objects than higher-pitched music, when the actual visual brightness level remains constant. These findings suggest the influence of musical pitch height on introducing biases in our evaluations of visual brightness within the context of concurrent music-visual experiences, contributing to the advancement of our theoretical understanding of the complex audiovisual integration involving music in our everyday lives.