Seibold Julia C, Nolden Sophie, Oberem Josefa, Fels Janina, Koch Iring
1 Department of Cognitive and Experimental Psychology, Institute for Psychology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
2 Medical Acoustics Group, Institute of Technical Acoustics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2018 Jun;71(6):1382-1395. doi: 10.1080/17470218.2017.1344867. Epub 2018 Jan 1.
In an auditory attention-switching paradigm, participants heard two simultaneously spoken number-words, each presented to one ear, and decided whether the target number was smaller or larger than 5 by pressing a left or right key. An instructional cue in each trial indicated which feature had to be used to identify the target number (e.g., female voice). Auditory attention-switch costs were found when this feature changed compared to when it repeated in two consecutive trials. Earlier studies employing this paradigm showed mixed results when they examined whether such cued auditory attention-switches can be prepared actively during the cue-stimulus interval. This study systematically assessed which preconditions are necessary for the advance preparation of auditory attention-switches. Three experiments were conducted that controlled for cue-repetition benefits, modality switches between cue and stimuli, as well as for predictability of the switch-sequence. Only in the third experiment, in which predictability for an attention-switch was maximal due to a pre-instructed switch-sequence and predictable stimulus onsets, active switch-specific preparation was found. These results suggest that the cognitive system can prepare auditory attention-switches, and this preparation seems to be triggered primarily by the memorised switching-sequence and valid expectations about the time of target onset.
在听觉注意力切换范式中，参与者同时听到两个分别传入一只耳朵的数字单词，并通过按左键或右键来判断目标数字是小于还是大于5。每次试验中的一个指示性线索表明必须使用哪个特征来识别目标数字（例如，女性声音）。与该特征在两个连续试验中重复出现的情况相比，当该特征发生变化时，发现了听觉注意力切换成本。早期采用这种范式的研究在考察这种提示性听觉注意力切换是否能在提示刺激间隔期间被主动准备时，结果不一。本研究系统地评估了听觉注意力切换的预先准备需要哪些先决条件。进行了三个实验，控制了线索重复的益处、线索与刺激之间的模态转换以及切换序列的可预测性。只有在第三个实验中，由于预先指示的切换序列和可预测的刺激开始，注意力切换的可预测性最大，才发现了特定于切换的主动准备。这些结果表明，认知系统可以准备听觉注意力切换，而且这种准备似乎主要由记忆的切换序列和对目标出现时间的有效预期触发。
