Attention and audiovisual rabbit illusion: Pre- and postcue impact differently on cross-modally postdictive location.

Abstract

The audiovisual rabbit illusion is a cross-modal postdictive phenomenon where an illusory flash is perceived between two spatially displaced real flashes when accompanied by three auditory beeps. This study investigates how attentional cues influence the perceived location of the illusory flash. We used four small red dots as placeholders for exogenous cues, positioned near potential flash locations in the upper and lower visual hemifields. One dot changed to yellow either 200 ms before (Experiment 1) or after (Experiment 2) the flashes to direct attention. Results showed that a 200-ms precue attracted the illusory flash (Experiment 1), underscoring the role of early attentional selection in localizing cross-modal illusions. In contrast, a 200-ms postcue had no effect (Experiment 2), whereas a 50-ms postcue repelled the illusory flash location (Experiment 3), suggesting that late sensory reactivation through postcues remaps stimulus localization. These findings demonstrate distinct mechanisms through which precues and postcues influence the perception of cross-modal illusory stimuli, offering new insights into attention, postdiction, and multisensory integration. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).