Ventriloquism Effect in Multisensory Integration

[Concepts in Sensorimotor Research]

The ventriloquism effect is a fascinating example of multisensory integration, the process by which the brain combines information from different senses to create a unified percept. The brain is integrating information from the visual and auditory senses to create the perceive that the sound is coming from a location (the dummy's mouth) that is different from the actual source of the sound.

The ventriloquism effect can also occur in other situations where there is a mismatch between the visual and auditory information, such as when watching a movie with dubbed audio, or when hearing a person speak on a phone or speaker. The brain uses contextual cues to determine the location of the sound source and can be influenced by visual information, leading to the perception of the sound coming from a different location.

There is some evidence to suggest that autistics may process sensory information differently than neurotypicals, including the processing of auditory information and less fooled by the ventriloquism effect which may suggest that autistics have difficulty integrating information form different senses (which has implication in terms of social interactions).

Other studies have suggested that individuals with autism may have heightened sensitivity to certain auditory stimuli and may experience difficulty in filtering out irrelevant sounds. This hypersensitivity to sound could potentially interfere with the integration of visual and auditory information, leading to a weaker ventriloquism effect.

However the caveat is that research on the relationship between autism & ventriloquism effect is ongoing and not fully understood. So nothing is set in stone.
References
Karaminis, T., Tsiptsios, I., & Vatakis, A. (2017). Reduced susceptibility to the sound-induced flash illusion in autism spectrum disorder: Evidence from the double-flash illusion. Autism Research, 10(9), 1575-1584.
Kwakye, L. D., Foss-Feig, J. H., Cascio, C. J., Stone, W. L., & Wallace, M. T. (2011). Altered auditory and multisensory temporal processing in autism spectrum disorders. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 4, 129.
Molholm, S., Murphy, J. W., & Bates, J. (2019). Audiovisual multisensory integration in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 101, 85-100.
Stevenson, R. A., Siemann, J. K., Schneider, B. C., Eberly, H. E., & Woynaroski, T. G. (2017). The multisensory temporal binding window narrows with age in childhood and is unrelated to social-cognitive skills. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 160, 38-51.