McGurk effect

noun

A perceptual phenomenon where, when the auditory component of one sound is paired with the visual component of another sound, a third and different sound is perceived.

Meanings

nounMcGurk effect (plural McGurk effects)

plural McGurk effects

  1. human sciencesA perceptual phenomenon where, when the auditory component of one sound is paired with the visual component of another sound, a third and different sound is perceived.
    2 more examples

    Finally, let us note two experiments that demonstrate a relation between the auditory and visual modalities that makes sense under the tight bond between particular articulatory and acoustic states implied by a phonological feature. In the so-called McGurk effect, subjects see a video display of a head saying [ba] repeatedly: [ba], [ba], [ba]. The video is synchronized with a recording of [ga], [ga], [ga]. […] subjects hear neither [ga], [ga], [ga] nor [ba], [ba], [ba], but [da], [da], [da] — an illusion whose effect is quite stunning.

    1994 January 28, Michael Kenstowicz, “The Phonetic Foundations of Phonology”, in w:Phonology in Generative Grammar (Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics), Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, →ISBN, section 4.5, page 191

    Conversely, and most crucially, McGurk effects for click consonant-vowel syllables were found to be equivalent to those for stop-vowel syllables. These results indicate that McGurk AV integration is strong for coarticulated stop consonant-vowel syllables, but much weaker for isolated release bursts, regardless of whether they are from native or non-native consonants, or are perceived as speech or as non-speech.

    2020, Catherine T. Best, “Perception of Non-native Click Consonant Contrasts: Implications for Theories of Speech Perception”, in Bonny Sands, editor, Click Consonants (Empirical Approaches to Linguistic Theory; 15), Boston: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 194

Origin

First described in 1976 in a paper by Harry McGurk and John MacDonald.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

McGurk effect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/McGurk%20effect

MLA

“McGurk effect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/McGurk%20effect. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “McGurk effect,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/McGurk%20effect.

Source: McGurk effect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.