Cueing signals in auditory detection and frequency discrimination experiments

The effects of presenting a cueing signal during the warning interval initiating a trial were investigated in two-interval forced-choice detection and frequency-discrimination experiments. It was expected that the cueing signal would reduce the uncertainty of Ss about the stimuli being presented in these experiments. In general, it was found that performance tended to improve as the experiments progressed, both in conditions in which cues were presented and in control conditions in which no cues were presented. The improvement observed in control conditions is not usually found in similar experiments in which cues are not employed. Though performance generally improved, it was found that for some stimulus conditions the cues tended to depress average performance below the level attained without such cues.