Predictability of the cue-target relation and the time-course of auditory inhibition of return.
The possibility that the time-course of auditory inhibition of return (IOR) might depend on the temporal or spatial predictability of the cue-target relation was investigated. In all the experiments, a location cue was followed by a target that was to be localized. An inhibitory effect became apparent at a longer stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) when either the temporal or the spatial relation was predictable, rather than when either was unpredictable. A facilitative effect was apparent at a 100-msec SOA, irrespective of the predictability of the cue-target relation. These results establish that the time-course of the inhibitory component of location-based auditory IOR depends on the predictability of the temporal and spatial relations of cue and target. The theoretical implications of these results are considered, and a dual-process model of auditory selective attention is offered.
Mondor
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Department of Psychology, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, Canada. tmondor@mta.ca
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D011930:Reaction Time; D012016:Reference Values; D013017:Sound Localization