Journal Article Ppublish
PubMed: 38829578 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02527-y
Auditory context-dependent distraction by unexpected visual stimuli.
Psychon Bull Rev 31(6):2791-2800
Authors: Fabrice B R Parmentier, Michael English, Murray T Maybery
Affiliations
- Department of Psychology, University of the Balearic Islands, Ctra. De Valldemossa, Km 7.5, Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain.
- Balearic Islands Health Research Institute (IdISBa), Palma, Spain.
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
Abstract
Research findings indicate that when a task-irrelevant stimulus feature deviates from an otherwise predictable pattern, participants performing a categorization task exhibit slower responses (deviance distraction). This deviance distraction effect reflects the violation of the sensory predictions generated by the cognitive system. In this study, we sought to examine for the first time whether these predictions can be incidentally modulated by the auditory environment. Participants categorized the duration (short vs long) of a colored shape (red square or blue circle) while instructed to disregard the stimulus' visual features and the sound played in the background (two distinct chords played by different instruments). While the two visual stimuli shapes were equiprobable across the task, one was highly likely (p=.882) and the other rare (p=.118) in one auditory context and vice versa in the other context. Our results showed that participants were significantly slower in the duration judgement task whenever the stimulus was unexpected within a given auditory context (context-dependent distraction), and that the reset of their sensory predictions was completed upon the trial following a change of context. We conclude that object features and environmental context are processed in relation to each other and that sensory predictions are produced in relation to the environmental context, evidencing the first demonstration of auditory context-dependent modulation of attention.
MeSH
Environment, Psychophysiology, Psychology, Experimental