title: Auditory Multi-Stability: Idiosyncratic Perceptual Switching Patterns, Executive Functions and Personality Traits.
abstract: Multi-stability refers to the phenomenon of perception stochastically switching between possible interpretations of an unchanging stimulus. Despite considerable variability, individuals show stable idiosyncratic patterns of switching between alternative perceptions in the auditory streaming paradigm. We explored correlates of the individual switching patterns with executive functions, personality traits, and creativity. The main dimensions on which individual switching patterns differed from each other were identified using multidimensional scaling. Individuals with high scores on the dimension explaining the largest portion of the inter-individual variance switched more often between the alternative perceptions than those with low scores. They also perceived the most unusual interpretation more often, and experienced all perceptual alternatives with a shorter delay from stimulus onset. The ego-resiliency personality trait, which reflects a tendency for adaptive flexibility and experience seeking, was significantly positively related to this dimension. Taking these results together we suggest that this dimension may reflect the individual's tendency for exploring the auditory environment. Executive functions were significantly related to some of the variables describing global properties of the switching patterns, such as the average number of switches. Thus individual patterns of perceptual switching in the auditory streaming paradigm are related to some personality traits and executive functions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.|Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Dávid
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Farkas
authors.affiliation: Cognition Institute and School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Denham
authors.affiliation: School of Natural Sciences, Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bendixen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Dénes
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tóth
authors.affiliation: Human Information Science Laboratory, NTT Communication Science Laboratories, NTT Corporation, Atsugi, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirohito M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Winkler
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult