Abstract
The presentation of an auditory stimulus immediately before a visual target stimulus shortens reaction time. This effect has been attributed to the facilitation of decisional and/or motor processes by automatic temporal expectation. The present study examined the possibility that automatic temporal expectation also facilitates sensory processing. Eighteen young adults performed a simple task, which required detecting a threshold luminance small ring presented at fixation. In half of the trials, a low intensity tone preceded this target stimulus by 200 ms. Accuracy was evaluated for the cue absent and the cue present trials. Detectability (d-prime) was higher and criterion (C) lower for the cue present condition than for the cue absent trials. These results indicate that automatic temporal expectation facilitates visual processing and confirm its facilitatory influence on decisional processes.
Highlights
(2007), because it is automatically mobilized by the auditory prime stimulus
This study tested the hypotheses that automatic temporal expectation modulates visual and decisional processing, as indicated respectively by target stimulus detectability and criterion to judge that the target stimulus had occurred
It was predicted that detectability of the target stimulus would be higher and criterion to judge that the target stimulus had occurred, lower after this auditory stimulus than in its absence
Summary
(2007), because it is automatically mobilized by the auditory prime stimulus. These authors distinguished it from the controlled (intentional) temporal expectation mobilized by symbolic temporal cues, which has been extensively investigated by Correa et al (2005, 2006). Another view, defended by Hackley and Valle-Inclán (1998, 2003), Leuthold (2003) and Muller-Gethmann et al (2003) and, more recently, by Bausenhart, Rolke, Hackley, and Ulrich (2006), is that temporal expectation acts mainly at a premotor level to reduce response latency. Bausenhart et al (2006) investigated the influence of the cue on the psychological refractory period effect, which is attributed to a competition between processes occurring before response selection They demonstrated that a visual temporal cue reduced the interference produced by a visual discrimination on an auditory discrimination performed 50 or 200 ms later. It was predicted that detectability of the target stimulus would be higher and criterion to judge that the target stimulus had occurred, lower after this auditory stimulus than in its absence
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
