Automatic and Controlled Attention Processes in Auditory Detection.
Abstract
An analogy can be drawn between visual search and auditory target detection. Three experiments were designed to compare performance in the two paradigms. In experiment 1, the effects of consistent and varied mapping of stimuli and responses were examined in auditory detection task. Subjects responded faster and made fewer errors under consistent mapping (CM) than varied mapping (VM) conditions, and the effect of memory set size decreased over practice in the CM condition. In experiment 2, performance in single-channel, selective-attention, and divided-attention conditions were compared under VM conditions for auditory target detection. There were large differences among the three conditions in contrast to results previously obtained under CM conditions (Moray, 1975). These differences were much larger in the auditory detection task than in an analogous visual search task employed in Experiment 3. An analysis of individual differences in Experiments 2 and 3 indicated that there is no general ability to divide attention. The results are discussed in terms of automatic and controlled processes involved in recognition of target stimuli. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA097478
Entities
People
- Earl Hunt
- Marcy Lansman
- Steven Poltrock
Organizations
- University of Washington