Disruption of short-term memory by changing and deviant sounds: support for a duplex-mechanism account of auditory distraction.
The disruption of short-term memory by to-be-ignored auditory sequences (the changing-state effect) has often been characterized as attentional capture by deviant events (deviation effect). However, the present study demonstrates that changing-state and deviation effects are functionally distinct forms of auditory distraction: The disruption of visual-verbal serial recall by changing-state speech was independent of the effect of a single deviant voice embedded within the speech (Experiment 1); a voice-deviation effect, but not a changing-state effect, was found on a missing-item task (Experiment 2); and a deviant voice repetition within the context of an alternating-voice irrelevant speech sequence disrupted serial recall (Experiment 3). The authors conclude that the changing-state effect is the result of a conflict between 2 seriation processes being applied concurrently to relevant and irrelevant material, whereas the deviation effect reflects a more general attention-capture process.
Hughes
Robert W
RW
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom. hughesrw@cardiff.ac.uk
Vachon
François
F
Jones
Dylan M
DM
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001307:Auditory Perception; D005260:Female; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D012016:Reference Values; D012691:Serial Learning; D014706:Verbal Learning