Perceive speech in noise is a complex operation for our perceptual system. To achieve this auditory scene analysis, we involve mechanisms of auditory streaming. We can also read lips to improve our understanding of speech. The intial hypothesis, presented in this thesis, is that visual benefit could be partly based on interactions between the visual input and the auditory streaming mechanisms. Studies conduced here shows that when the audiovisual coherence is strong, primary streaming mechanisms can be strengthened. Late segregation mechanisms, meanwhile, have been shown as involving attentional processes. These attentional processes could therefore be strengthened by the presentation of a visual cue linked perceptually to auditory signal. It appears that binding between a stream of vowels and a elementary visual cue can occur but is less strong than when the visual cue contained phonetic information. In conclusion, the results presented in this work suggest that the mechanisms of auditory streaming can be influenced by a visual cue as long as the audiovisual coherence is important as in the case of speech.
