Music and Visual Perception

       While searching the internet for a topic on perception, I came across a research article that I thought was pretty interesting. This article suggests that music can not only change our moods, it can also alter our visual perception. In an experiment conducted by researcher Jacob Jolij and student Maaike Meurs of the University of Groningen, subjects were made to identify happy or sad smileys while listening to happy or sad music. As a result, it was found that the expression that went along with its respective music was identified more often. Even when subjects weren’t shown either expression, most subjects still saw the expression that would go along with the type of music they were listening to.