Distraction in a continuous-stimulation detection task.
Event-related potential (ERP) correlates of distraction are usually investigated in the oddball paradigm following a discrete, trial-by-trial stimulation protocol. In this design, participants perform a discrimination task while oddball stimuli deviate in a task-irrelevant stimulus feature. In our experiment, participants detected gaps in a continuous tone while infrequent frequency glides served as distracting events. Glides preceding a gap by 150ms delayed the response to the gap and elicited the ERP sequence of N1, probably MMN, P3a, and reorienting negativity, suggesting that these responses reflect distraction-related processes which are neither task- nor stimulation-specific. When participants watched a silent movie and the auditory stimulation was task-irrelevant, glides preceding a gap by 150ms enhanced the amplitude of the gap-elicited N1. However, when the auditory stimulation was task-relevant, the gap-elicited N1 was attenuated. These results show that the glides drew attention away from the ongoing task, both from watching the silent movie and from detecting gaps.
Horváth
János
J
Institute for Psychology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1394 Budapest, Hungary. horvath@cogpsyphy.hu
Winkler
István
I
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003265:Contingent Negative Variation / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult