The semantic congruency effect into bistable visual perception: a study based on tones of voice as top-down modulating stimuli
Background: Bistable images (or ambiguous images) have the chance to be interpreted in two different ways. Owing to its physical features, this type of images offers two independentvisual perceptswhich are associated with top-down and bottom-up modulating perceiving processes. It has been also stated that tones of voice can operate as semantic modulators in such a way that the voice itself can exert a top-down influence on the way an observer perceives a bistable visual stimulus, regardless of the understanding of the speech (words meaning) that operates as a modulating factor.