Spatial relevance determines facilitatory and inhibitory effects of auditory covert spatial orienting

Author(s): Ward, L. M.

Journal/Book: J Exp Psychol Hum Percep Perf. 1999; 25: 750 First St NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242, USA. Amer Psychological Assoc. 1234-1252.

Abstract: Eight experiments examined the conditions necessary for covert orienting and inhibition of return (IOR) to occur in audition. Spatially uninformative auditory cues facilitated responses to auditory targets at short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) and inhibited them at longer SOAs when the decision to respond was based on the location of the target (Experiments 1, 3, and 4). The same cues did not influence performance when the decision to respond was based on nonspatial criteria (Experiments 2, 5, and 7) unless the cues predicted the location of the target (Experiment 6). In the absence of cues, the location of a previous target influenced performance when the decision to respond was based on spatial, but not nonspatial, criteria (Experiment 8). These findings demonstrate that covert orienting and IOR occur in audition only when spatial relevance is established, presumably inducing use of location-sensitive neurons in generating responses.

Note: Article McDonald JJ, Univ Calif San Diego, Dept Neurosci, 9500 Gilman Dr, Mail Code 0608, La Jolla,CA 92093 USA

Keyword(s): PRIMATE SUPERIOR COLLICULUS; DIRECTED VISUAL-ATTENTION; SACCADE-RELATED ACTIVITY; NON-INFORMATIVE CUES; SENSORIMOTOR INTEGRATION; REACTION-TIME; RETURN; MECHANISMS; SHIFTS; BRAIN

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