Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

We examined the effects of modality expectancy on human performance. Participants judged azimuth (left vs. right location) for an unpredictable sequence of auditory, visual, and tactile targets. In some blocks, equal numbers of targets were presented in each modality. In others, the majority (75%) of the targets were presented in just one expected modality. Reaction times (RTs) for targets in an unexpected modality were slower than when that modality was expected or when no expectancy applied. RT costs associated with shifting attention from the tactile modality were greater than those for shifts from either audition or vision. Any RT benefits for the most likely modality were due to priming from an event in the same modality on the previous trial, not to the expectancy per se. These results show that stimulus-driven and expectancy-driven effects must be distinguished in studies of attending to different sensory modalities.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Percept Psychophys

Publication Date

02/2001

Volume

63

Pages

330 - 336

Keywords

Adult, Attention, Auditory Perception, Female, Humans, Male, Orientation, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Reaction Time, Set (Psychology), Touch