Final answer:
Multisensory perception refers to the integration of different sensory inputs, like auditory and visual stimuli, by the nervous system to create a coherent understanding of what is being experienced, such as observing and hearing events in a hockey game.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ability to hear the sound of the stick hitting the puck and see the puck slide across the ice at a hockey game is known as multisensory perception. This is a process of integration where the nervous system processes stimuli, compares them with other stimuli, memories of previous stimuli, or the state of a person at a particular time to generate a specific response. In this scenario, spectators integrate both the auditory stimuli (sound of the puck being hit) and visual stimuli (sight of the puck sliding) to understand and appreciate the action in the game.
Multisensory perception is crucial for various activities, including sports, where processing visual information and associating sensory stimuli with learned behavior are required for performance and enjoyment. For instance, a batter in baseball uses multisensory perception to decide whether to swing at a pitch based on the trajectory and speed of the ball as well as the game context. Similarly, spectators at a hockey game use multisensory perception to follow the game and react to plays.