The influence of blindness on auditory context dependency.

Abstract

The central tendency effect emphasizes the use of priors by the brain for perceptual optimization within a Bayesian framework. This study explores the impact of blindness on central tendency and prior utilization in a distance estimation auditory task by testing a group of early blinds, late blinds, and sighted participants. The results showed that early blind individuals exhibit a general impairment compared to sighted controls and late blind participants. Notably, although all groups showed the central tendency effect, it was almost complete in the early blind group. Bayesian modeling reveals suboptimal prior utilization in sighted controls and late blind but not in early blind. Our findings highlight the influence of contextual information in early blind individuals but their failure to optimize prior utilization. These results allow further exploration into the impact of context dependence on sensory processing in blindness. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for refining models of perceptual processing, which has implications for developing interventions to enhance sensory processing in blindness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).