The inability of young children to reproduce intensity differences in musical rhythms

A musical rhythm can be described in terms of both its temporal and its dynamic structure. However, although 6-year-old children are able to perceive and reproduce simple temporal structures, even 8-year-olds rarely reproduce intensity differences. Four experiments on the perception and reproduction of musical rhythms by 5- to 8-year-old children demonstrate that even though dynamic structure is clearly dominated by its temporal support, intensity differences play a role in reinforcing the temporal structure. The inability of children to reproduce intensity differences appears to be due neither to an inability to control the intensity of their tap responses nor to the fact that they cannot perceive such changes in intensity. Rather, the results seem best interpreted in terms of the allocation of attentional resources. With simple stimulus material (Experiments 1-3), the children focused on temporal information, and only when the processing of temporal information was mastered did they have "enough attention left" to direct it to intensity differences (Experiment 2). With more complex orchestral music (Experiment 4), attention was primarily allocated to the dynamic structure.     

Selective attention to the parts of an object

Recent empirical results suggest that there is a decrement in dividing attention between two objects in a scene compared with focusing attention on a single object. However, objects can be made of individual parts. Is there a decrement for dividing attention across different parts of a single object? We addressed this question in two experiments. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that attention can exhibit part-based selection—that is, the subjects were more accurate in reporting two attributes from the same part of an object than they were in reporting attributes from different parts of an object. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that part-based attentional decrements occurred simultaneously with object-based attentional decrements. The results from Experiment 2 demonstrated that part-based attention is evident at the same time as objects are processed as coherent wholes. Our results imply that there is an attentional mechanism that can select either objects or their parts.     

Mindfulness meditation and relaxation training increases time sensitivity

Two experiments examined the effect of mindfulness meditation and relaxation on time perception using a temporal bisection task. In Experiment 1, the participants performed a temporal task before and after exercises of mindfulness meditation or relaxation. In Experiment 2, the procedure was similar than that used in Experiment 1, except that the participants were trained to mediate or relax every day over a period of several weeks. The results showed that mindfulness meditation exercises increased sensitivity to time and lengthened perceived time. However, this temporal improvement with meditation exercises was primarily observed in the experienced meditators. Our results also showed the experienced meditators were less anxious than the novice participants, and that the sensitivity to time increased when the level of anxiety decreased. Our results were explained by the practice of mindfulness technique that had developed individuals’ abilities in devoting more attention resources to temporal information processing.     

Effects of temporal trial-by-trial cuing on early and late stages of auditory processing: Evidence from event-related potentials

Temporal-cuing studies show faster responding to stimuli at an attended versus unattended time point. Whether the mechanisms involved in this temporal orienting of attention are located early or late in the processing stream has not been answered unequivocally. To address this question, we measured event-related potentials in two versions of an auditory temporal cuing task: Stimuli at the uncued time point either required a response (Experiment 1) or did not (Experiment 2). In both tasks, attention was oriented to the cued time point, but attention could be selectively focused on the cued time point only in Experiment 2. In both experiments, temporal orienting was associated with a late positivity in the timerange of the P3. An early enhancement in the timerange of the auditory N1 was observed only in Experiment 2. Thus, temporal attention improves auditory processing at early sensory levels only when it can be focused selectively.     

The temporal weighting of loudness: effects of the level profile

In four experiments, we studied the influence of the level profile of time-varying sounds on temporal perceptual weights for loudness. The sounds consisted of contiguous wideband noise segments on which independent random-level perturbations were imposed. Experiment 1 showed that in sounds with a flat level profile, the first segment receives the highest weight (primacy effect). If, however, a gradual increase in level (fade-in) was imposed on the first few segments, the temporal weights showed a delayed primacy effect: The first unattenuated segment received the highest weight, while the fade-in segments were virtually ignored. This pattern argues against a capture of attention to the onset as the origin of the primacy effect. Experiment 2 demonstrated that listeners adjust their temporal weights to the level profile on a trial-by-trial basis. Experiment 3 ruled out potentially inferior intensity resolution at lower levels as the cause of the delayed primacy effect. Experiment 4 showed that the weighting patterns cannot be explained by perceptual segmentation of the sounds into a variable and a stable part. The results are interpreted in terms of memory and attention processes. We demonstrate that the prediction of loudness can be improved significantly by allowing for nonuniform temporal weights.     

Assessing the effects of audiovisual semantic congruency on the perception of a bistable figure

Bistable figures provide a fascinating window through which to explore human visual awareness. Here we demonstrate for the first time that the semantic context provided by a background auditory soundtrack (the voice of a young or old female) can modulate an observer's predominant percept while watching the bistable "my wife or my mother-in-law" figure (Experiment 1). The possibility of a response-bias account-that participants simply reported the percept that happened to be congruent with the soundtrack that they were listening to-was excluded in Experiment 2. We further demonstrate that this crossmodal semantic effect was additive with the manipulation of participants' visual fixation (Experiment 3), while it interacted with participants' voluntary attention (Experiment 4). These results indicate that audiovisual semantic congruency constrains the visual processing that gives rise to the conscious perception of bistable visual figures. Crossmodal semantic context therefore provides an important mechanism contributing to the emergence of visual awareness.     

S-R Compatibility Effects Without Response Uncertainty

Five experiments investigated whether cognitively based spatial S-R correspondence effects or "compatibility" effects can occur in simple reaction time (SRT) tasks and if so, which factors might be responsible for their occurrence and size. In Experiment 1, responses were cued before each trial, but made only after presentation of a Go signal. There were considerably faster responses with spatial correspondence of Go signal and response, demonstrating that response certainty does not prevent a compatibility effect. Experiment 2, a SRT task with "extra" trials requiring responses with the same or the opposite hand, indicated a major determinant of this effect to be the keeping of two task-relevant responses in a state of readiness. Experiment 3 provided preliminary evidence for 'inertia' effects-that is, for stronger correspondence effects with frequent than with infrequent alternations between left-hand and right-hand blocks. Experiment 4 showed that correspondence effects can be obtained by using a within-hand response repertoire. Experiment 5, a replication of Experiment 3 with within-hand responses, found further evidence for inertia effects. For all experiments, reaction time distribution analyses were carried out to gain insight into the temporal dynamics of correspondence effects. Altogether the results strongly suggest that most if not all correspondence effects had a cognitive rather than an anatomical origin. This raises some doubts about conclusions from prior attempts to measure interhemispheric transmission costs by means of SRT tasks.     

Enhancement of perceptual representations by endogenous attention biases competition in response selection

Perception and response selection are core processes in the generation of overt behavior. Selective attention is known to facilitate behavioral performance by altering perceptual processes. It remains unclear, however, whether selective attention can aid the resolution of response conflict, and if so, at what stage of processing this takes place. In two experiments, an endogenous cuing task was combined with a flanker task to assess the interaction of selective attention with response selection. The results of Experiment 1 show that cuing reduces the flanker-congruency effect when the cue and flanker are presented in close temporal proximity to each other. The results of Experiment 2 demonstrate that pre- but not post-cuing the target reduced the congruency effect, showing that selective attention can affect performance, but is ineffective once stimulus processing has proceeded to response selection. Our results provide evidence that selective attention can aid the resolution of response conflict by altering early perceptual processing stages.     

Sounds change four-dot masking

The temporal occurrence of a flash can be shifted towards a slightly offset sound (temporal ventriloquism). Here we examined whether four-dot masking is affected by this phenomenon. In Experiment 1, we demonstrate that there is release from four-dot masking if two sounds - one before the target and one after the mask - are presented at ∼100 ms intervals rather than at ∼0 ms intervals or a silent condition. In Experiment 2, we show that the release from masking originates from an alerting effect of the first sound, and a temporal ventriloquist effect from the first and second sounds that lengthened the perceived interval between target and mask, thereby leaving more time for the target to consolidate. Results thus show that sounds penetrate the visual system at more than one level.     

Controlled attention sharing influences time estimation

A seminal attentional model of time estimation predicts that subjective duration will be positively correlated to the amount of attention given to temporal processing. This prediction holds under prospective conditions, in which one is forewarned that judgments of time will be asked, in contrast to retrospective conditions, in which such judgments are required after the relevant period without any prior warning. In three experiments, an attention-sharing method was used. Subjects were asked to control the amount of attention that they devoted to one or the other component of a dual-task paradigm. The first experiment involved word categorization and reproduction of duration. The following experiments, based on signal detection theory, required discrimination of both the duration and the intensity of a single stimulus, in the visual (Experiment 2) or the auditory (Experiment 3) modality. The results indicate that when the attention is directly controlled by the subject, the subjective duration shortens as the amount of attention devoted to the temporal task diminishes. The implications of these results for the possible existence of an internal timer are considered.     

情境模型中时间和空间维度更新的相互影响

运用移动窗口技术考察情境模型中时间和空间维度同时或序列转变时二者间的相互关系。结果发现：(1)时间和空间同时转变时, 二者存在易化关系, 但时间对空间的易化作用更大; (2)当二者序列转变时, 以中文为材料的结果只发现时间对空间的易化关系, 而以英语为材料的结果则发现存在双向易化关系, 但时间对空间的易化作用更大。据此, 情境模型中的时间和空间维度更新的捆绑－预期假设得到证明。     

Target enhancement and distractor inhibition affect transitory surround suppression in dual tasks using multiple rapid serial visual presentation streams

Few studies have investigated the interaction between temporal and spatial dimensions on selective attention using dual tasks in the multiple rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm. A phenomenon that the surround suppression in space changes over time (termed transitory surround suppression, TSS, in the present study) has been observed, suggesting the existence of this time–space interaction. However, it is still unclear whether target enhancement or distractor inhibition modulates TSS. Four behavioural experiments were conducted to investigate the mechanism of TSS by manipulating the temporal lag and spatial distance factors between two targets embedded in six RSVP streams. The TSS effect was replicated in a study that eliminated confounds of perceptual effects and attentional switch (Experiment 1). However, the TSS disappeared when two targets shared the same colour in a between-subjects design (Experiment 2a) and a within-subject design (Experiment 2b), suggesting the impact of target enhancement on TSS. Moreover, the TSS was larger for within-category than for between-category distractors (Experiment 3), indicating the impact of distractor inhibition on TSS. These two influences on TSS under different processing demands of target and distractor processing were further confirmed in a skeletal design (Experiment 4). Overall, combinative effects of target enhancement and distractor suppression contribute to the mechanisms of time–space interaction in selective attention during visual search.     

Attentional modulation of masked repetition and categorical priming in young and older adults

Three experiments examined the effects of temporal attention and aging on masked repetition and categorical priming for numbers and words. Participants' temporal attention was manipulated by varying the stimulus onset asynchrony (i.e., constant or variable SOA). In Experiment 1, participants performed a parity judgment task and a lexical decision task in which categorical priming and repetition priming were, respectively, tested. Experiment 2 used a semantic categorization task testing categorical priming. In Experiment 3, repetition and categorical priming were tested in the same semantic categorization task with the same stimuli. The results of the three experiments showed that masked repetition priming is insensitive to manipulations of temporal attention whereas categorical priming is. Furthermore, no differences were found between young and older adults in repetition priming effects, again contrasting with the categorical priming results for which older adults were more sensitive to attentional manipulations than young adults.     

Object-based perception mediates the effect of exogenous attention on temporal resolution

The effects of target distinctiveness, target placeholders, and target spatial separation on the relation between exogenous attention and temporal resolution were examined in a visual temporal order judgement (TOJ) task. When identical targets were presented at different locations within a cued or uncued placeholder, attention degraded temporal resolution (Experiment 1), but when distinct targets were presented at different locations that cueing effect disappeared (Experiment 2), and when the target placeholders were not used, attention enhanced temporal resolution for distinct targets presented at different locations (Experiment 3). Attention also degraded temporal resolution when distinct targets were presented at the same location (Experiment 4). The latter two results were then replicated in a task in which distinct targets appeared randomly at the same or different locations (Experiment 5). Clearly, the nature of the relation between exogenous attention and temporal resolution is not a straightforward one—the relative location of targets, the similarity of targets, and the presence of placeholders all qualitatively affect the cueing relation. We hypothesize a mediating role for object-related processes. Specifically, exogenous attention enhances feature binding and related object representations, which subsequently degrade temporal resolution.     

The implicit learning of metrical and nonmetrical temporal patterns

Implicit learning (IL) occurs unintentionally. IL of temporal patterns has received minimal attention, and results are mixed regarding whether IL of temporal patterns occurs in the absence of a concurrent ordinal pattern. Two experiments examined the IL of temporal patterns and the conditions under which IL is exhibited. Experiment 1 examined whether uncertainty of the upcoming stimulus identity obscures learning. Based on probabilistic uncertainty, it was hypothesized that stimulus-detection tasks are more sensitive to temporal learning than multiple-alternative forced-choice tasks because of response uncertainty in the latter. Results demonstrated IL of metrical patterns in the stimulus-detection but not the multiple-alternative task. Experiment 2 investigated whether properties of rhythm (i.e., meter) benefit IL using the stimulus-detection task. The metric binding hypothesis states that metrical frameworks guide attention to periodic points in time. Based on the metric binding hypothesis, it was hypothesized that metrical patterns are learned faster than nonmetrical patterns. Results demonstrated learning of metrical and nonmetrical patterns but metrical patterns were not learned more readily than nonmetrical patterns. However, abstraction of a metrical framework was still evident in the metrical condition. The present study shows IL of auditory temporal patterns in the absence of an ordinal pattern.     

Impaired temporal discrimination within the attentional blink

Yeshurun and Levy (2003) reported that temporal discrimination performance of a visual stimulus benefits when spatial attention is oriented away from its location. In the present study, we investigated whether this negative influence of attention on temporal discrimination performance is restricted to transient spatial attention or might generalize to other paradigms of attention. We employed the attentional blink (AB) paradigm and required either a spatial (Experiment 1) or a temporal discrimination task (Experiment 2). The results of both experiments revealed a performance decrement if attention was temporally unavailable during the AB and a recovery with increasing attentional availability. Thus, contrary to the results of Yeshurun and Levy, the absence of attention decreased temporal discrimination performance in this paradigm. We hypothesize that attention which operates at different processing levels might exert differential effects on temporal stimulus processing.     

Dynamic shifts of pigeon local/global attention

It has previously been shown that pigeons can shift attention between parts and wholes of complex stimuli composed of larger, "global" characters constructed from smaller, "local" characters. The base-rate procedure used biased target level within any condition at either the local or global level; targets were more likely at one level than at the other. Biasing of target level in this manner demonstrated shifts of local/global attention over a time span consisting of several days with a fixed base rate. Experiment 1 examined the possibility that pigeons can shift attention between local and global levels of perceptual analysis in seconds rather than days. The experiment used priming cues the color of which predicted on a trial-by-trial basis targets at different perceptual levels. The results confirmed that pigeons, like humans, can display highly dynamic stimulus-driven shifts of local/global attention. Experiment 2 changed spatial relations between features of priming cues and features of targets within a task otherwise similar to that used in experiment 1. It was predicted that this change in cues might affect asymmetry but not the occurrence of a priming effect. A priming effect was again obtained, thereby providing generality to the claim that pigeons can learn that trial-by-trial primes predict targets at different levels of perceptual analysis. Pigeons can display perceptual, stimulus-driven priming of a highly dynamic nature. Electronic Publication     

Experiments on the Fehrer–Raab effect and the ‘Weather Station Model’ of visual backward masking

The Fehrer–Raab effect (simple reaction time is unaffected by metacontrast masking of the test stimulus) seems to imply that a stimulus can trigger a voluntary reaction without reaching a conscious representation. However, it is also possible that the mask triggers the reaction, and that the masked test stimulus causes a focussing of attention from which processing of the mask profits, thus reaching conscious representation earlier. This is predicted by the Weather Station Model of visual masking. Three experiments tested this explanation. Experiment 1 showed that the masked test stimulus caused a temporal shift of the mask. Experiment 2 showed that the reaction in the Fehrer–Raab effect was not exclusively triggered by a conscious representation of the test stimulus: the mask was involved in evoking the reaction. Experiment 3 again revealed a temporal shift of the mask. However, the shift was only about half as large as the Fehrer–Raab effect. The psychometric functions suggested that the observers used two different cues for their temporal order judgments. The results cast doubts on whether judged temporal order yields a direct estimate of the time of conscious perception. Some methodological alternatives are discussed.     

Time-related decay or interference-based forgetting in working memory?

The time-based resource-sharing model of working memory assumes that memory traces suffer from a time-related decay when attention is occupied by concurrent activities. Using complex continuous span tasks in which temporal parameters are carefully controlled, P. Barrouillet, S. Bernardin, S. Portrat, E. Vergauwe, & V. Camos (2007) recently provided evidence that any increase in time of the processing component of these tasks results in lower recall performance. However, K. Oberauer and R. Kliegl (2006) pointed out that, in this paradigm, increased processing times are accompanied by a corollary decrease of the remaining time during which attention is available to refresh memory traces. As a consequence, the main determinant of recall performance in complex span tasks would not be the duration of attentional capture inducing time-related decay, as Barrouillet et al. (2007) claimed, but the time available to repair memory traces, and thus would be compatible with an interference account of forgetting. The authors demonstrate here that even when the time available to refresh memory traces is kept constant, increasing the processing time still results in poorer recall, confirming that time-related decay is the source of forgetting within working memory.     

Reaction time indices of attention deficits in boys with disruptive behavior disorders

Boys with diagnoses in the disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) spectrum and normal controls were tested in two reaction time (RT) experiments. In Experiment I simple warned RT was measured and the length and regularity of the preparatory intervals were varied in order to study sustained attention in the sense of preparation. With age and IQ controlled, DBD boys had slower and more variable RT overall than controls and showed generally more pronounced effects of variations in the length and sequence of the preparatory intervals. The results suggest that DBD boys are subject to lapses of attention which are increased by a relatively long preparatory interval, and that they have a particular problem with temporal uncertainty. In Experiment II some aspects of selective attention were studied in a paradigm in which stimulus modality uncertainty and response selection were varied. DBD boys showed greater effects of modality uncertainty but not response selection than controls. No differences between subdiagnoses within the DBD spectrum could be demonstrated.