Older adults show larger multisensory gains for simple stimuli but multisensory deficits for complex speech stimuli¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · reviewr3·q2
Currency · newest study 2020 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Older individuals on average experience larger performance gains under multisensory conditions than younger adults for simple stimuli, but as stimulus and task complexity increases these gains disappear and multisensory performance deficits become the norm. → Wallace 2020
Evidence¶
Wallace 2020¶
Wallace, M. T., Woynaroski, T. G., & Stevenson, R. A. (2020). Multisensory Integration as a Window into Orderly and Disrupted Cognition and Communication. Annual Review of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-051112
q2 · i? · review · r3
The review reports, citing Laurienti et al. and Peiffer et al., that older adults show larger multisensory performance gains than younger adults, but notes these improvements appear limited to simple stimulus pairings such as flashes and beeps, with deficits emerging for speech-related audiovisual binding.
"older individuals on average experience larger perfor- mance gains under multisensory conditions when compared with younger adults"
Discussion¶
Learner Variables¶
- Auditory Processing — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
Related Claims¶
- Older adults show reduced accuracy in severe noise (SNR -5) but perform comparably to younger adults in quiet and moderate noise (SNR 20) — related
- Individuals with dyslexia show impairments in audiovisual integration beyond phoneme-grapheme mapping — related
- Autistic individuals show reduced multisensory integration, most consistently for speech-related stimuli — related
- Noise impairs children's performance in complex listening tasks beyond simple identification, with children affected more than adults — related
- Individuals with schizophrenia show reduced behavioral benefit from combined audiovisual cues and altered multisensory temporal processing — related
- Children with specific language impairment show reduced selective attention to and integration of audiovisual speech — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
aging-multisensory-gains-simple-deficits-complex |
title |
Older adults show larger multisensory gains for simple stimuli but multisensory deficits for complex speech stimuli |
description |
Older adults show larger multisensory gains for simple stimuli but multisensory deficits for complex speech stimuli |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2020 |
source_checked |
2026-10-20 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-17 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — wallace-2020 |
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