Intentional preparation of auditory attention-switches: Explicit cueing and sequential switch-predictability

Abstract

In an auditory attention-switching paradigm, participants heard two simultaneously spoken number-words, each presented to one ear, and decided whether the target number was smaller or larger than 5 by pressing a left or right key. An instructional cue in each trial indicated which feature had to be used to identify the target number (e.g., female voice). Auditory attention-switch costs were found when this feature changed compared to when it repeated in two consecutive trials. Earlier studies employing this paradigm showed mixed results when they examined whether such cued auditory attention-switches can be prepared actively during the cue-stimulus interval. This study systematically assessed which preconditions are necessary for the advance preparation of auditory attention-switches. Three experiments were conducted that controlled for cue-repetition benefits, modality switches between cue and stimuli, as well as for predictability of the switch-sequence. Only in the third experiment, in which predictability for an attention-switch was maximal due to a pre-instructed switch-sequence and predictable stimulus onsets, active switch-specific preparation was found. These results suggest that the cognitive system can prepare auditory attention-switches, and this preparation seems to be triggered primarily by the memorised switching-sequence and valid expectations about the time of target onset.

Can we prepare to attend to one of two simultaneous voices?

“…That the two voices were played dichotically in Koch et al's studies, with random ear assignment from trial to trial, may also have made it more difficult to prepare to attend to a male/female voice per se, as might the change in the voice selection criterion from ear in some blocks to gender in others (e.g. Seibold et al, 2018).…”

Auditory attention switching and judgment switching: Exploring multicomponent task representations

“…The cue (height: 4 cm; average width: 8.2 cm) was presented in black color in the center of a white screen of a 22-inch computer monitor (LG 22MB65PM). We used a 2:1 cue-to-attention-criterion mapping, and the experimental program did not allow for direct cue repetitions to avoid visual cue repetition priming and isolate the effects of component repetition priming Lawo et al, 2014;Seibold, Nolden, Oberem, Fels, & Koch, 2017). In the speaker-sex cuing block, a female speaker was either cued by the German word Frau (German for Bwoman^) or the symbol ♀, whereas a male speaker was either cued by the word Mann (Bman^) or the symbol ♂.…”

The binding of an auditory target location to a judgement: A two-component switching approach

“…When looking at previous studies on attention criterion switching, switch-specific effects of preparation time were rather inconsistent (see Koch et al, 2011; Lawo & Koch, 2015; Seibold et al, 2018b), even if attentional target selection occurred by ear (Lawo et al, 2014). Hence, it was not necessarily expected that a reduction of the attention criterion switch costs would be obtained.…”

“…Despite the ability to switch quickly between task sets and their potential subsets, performance decrements occur when a switch of such a set is required, compared with when the task set can be maintained (for switch costs of the judgement, see Jersild, 1927; Rogers & Monsell, 1995; for reviews, see Kiesel et al, 2010; Koch et al, 2018). Also switches of the auditory selection criterion to identify an auditory target have been shown to result in costs (e.g., Koch, Lawo, Fels, & Vorländer, 2011; Lawo, Fels, Oberem, & Koch, 2014; Seibold, Nolden, Oberem, Fels, & Koch, 2018b). The same is true for switches of the visual attention criterion for target selection (see Logan, 2005; Longman, Lavric, & Monsell, 2016; Longman, Lavric, Munteanu, & Monsell, 2014).…”

“…The stimuli were a spoken number and a spoken letter in each trial. A cue at the beginning of a trial indicated the attention criterion by which the target could be identified (i.e., attention switches either between two target locations, or between the gender of a female and a male speaker)—a technique that reliably produced switch costs (see such “attention switch costs” in, for example, Koch et al, 2011; Seibold et al, 2018b). Whenever the target was a letter, a judgement about whether this letter was a consonant or a vowel, and a left or right respective key press was required.…”