My research examines how integration succeeds — and why it fractures.

Below are three interconnected domains through which I pursue this question.

01 — Perception & Integration


How do sensory systems combine diverse inputs into a unified experience?

This research examines the structural constraints of multisensory integration and the conditions under which perceptual coherence fails.


Perception is not a seamless fusion of signals. Vision, audition, touch, and smell interact under specific rules. Some signals seem to integrate effectively; others resist combination or generate illusions. Understanding these constraints reshapes debates about perceptual unity, cognitive penetration, and the nature and veridicality of experience.


Selected publications


  • Cheng, T., Deroy, O., & Spence, C. (Eds.). (2019). Spatial Senses: Philosophy of Perception in an Age of Science. London: Routledge
  • Deroy, O. (Ed.) (2017). Sensory Blending : On Synaesthesia and Related Phenomena. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
  • Deroy, O., & Rappe, S. (2022) The clear and not so clear signatures of perceptual reality in the Bayesian brain, Consciousness and Cognition.
  • Deroy, O., Spence, C., & Noppeney, U.(2016) Metacognition in multisensory perception, Trends in cognitive sciences.
  • Deroy, O., Faivre, N., Lunghi, C., Spence, C., Aller, M., & Noppeney, U. (2015) The complex interplay between multisensory integration and perceptual awareness, Multisensory research.



02 — Collective Cognition


How do judgments aggregate across individuals?

This research investigates how beliefs, confidence, and disagreement are negotiated within groups, especially regarding shared experiences, and when diversity improves collective decisions.

If perception integrates signals within a mind, collective cognition integrates judgments across minds. Groups can outperform their members, but they can also polarise or stall. The dynamics of coordination, confidence exchange, and epistemic diversity determine which outcome prevails.


Selected publications


Battich, L., Fairhurst, M., & Deroy, O. (2020) Coordinating attention requires coordinated senses, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

Sulik, J., Bahrami, B., & Deroy, O (2021) The Diversity Gap: when diversity matters for knowledge, Perspectives in Psychological Science.



03 — Future challenges


How does integration change when we interact with artificial systems and new technologies, and what can institutions do to make sure groups still function?

This research examines how human–AI interactions introduce new challenges for integration, and how a lack of coherence can become politicised in technologically mediated societies.


Selected publications 


  • Algorithm exploitation: humans are keen to exploit benevolent AI (full text)

      Karpus, J., Krüger, A., Verba, J. T., Bahrami, B., & Deroy, O. iScience, 2021

  • Intelligence brings responsibility-Even smart AI assistants are held responsible.

      Longin, L., Bahrami, B., & Deroy, O. Iscience, 2023.

  • The ethics of terminology: Can we use human terms to describe AI?

      Deroy, O., Topoi, 2023

  • Algorithmic nudging: The need for an interdisciplinary oversight.

      Schmauder, C., Karpus, J., Moll, M., Bahrami, B., & Deroy, O. Topoi, 2023

  • Interacting with agents without a mind: the case for artificial agents.

      Geiselmann, R., Tsourgianni, A., Deroy, O., & Harris, L. T. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 2023 Interactions between the senses


For earlier work, see google scholar