Effects of denotative congruency on audio-visual impressions

Abstract

We examined how the denotative congruency in audio-visual stimuli affects the pleasant and restful impressions of the stimuli. In Experiment 1, in which we combined a single sound and a single motion picture, we found that the impressions of the audio-visual stimuli would be determined in terms of averaging the impressions obtained from each of the audio and visual stimuli. In Experiment 2, in which we combined two sounds and a single motion picture, we found that the pleasant and restful impressions positively shifted when one of the sounds was combined with the denotatively congruent motion picture, even if the unpleasant and unrestful sound was combined with an unpleasant and unrestful motion picture. These results suggested that the denotative congruency between the audio and visual stimuli would improve the pleasant and restful impressions. We are proposing that the stimulus complexity, which would be reduced by the denotative congruency between the audio and visual stimuli, underlies the positive shift of the pleasant and restful impressions in observing the stimuli. © Japanese Psychological Association 2011.