Abstract
There is currently a great deal of interest regarding the possible existence of a crossmodal attentional blink (AB) between audition and vision. The majority of evidence now suggests that no such crossmodal deficit exists unless a task switch is introduced. We report two experiments designed to investigate the existence of a crossmodal AB between vision and touch. Two masked targets were presented successively at variable interstimulus intervals. Participants had to respond either to both targets (experimental condition) or to just the second target (control condition). In Experiment 1, the order of target modality was blocked, and an AB was demonstrated when visual targets preceded tactile targets, but not when tactile targets preceded visual targets. In Experiment 2, target modality was mixed randomly, and a significant crossmodal AB was demonstrated in both directions between vision and touch. The contrast between our visuotactile results and those of previous audiovisual studies is discussed, as are the implications for current theories of the AB.
Article PDF
References
Arnell, K. M., &Duncan, J. (2002). Separate and shared sources of dual-task cost in stimulus identification and response selection.Cognitive Psychology,44, 105–147.
Arnell, K. M., &Jolicoeur, P. (1999). The attentional blink across stimulus modalities: Evidence for central processing limitations.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,25, 630–648.
Chun, M. M., &Potter, M. C. (1995). A two stage model for multiple target detection in rapid serial visual presentation.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,21, 109–127.
Dell’Acqua, R., Turatto, M., &Jolicoeur, P. (2001). Cross-modal attentional deficits in processing tactile stimulation.Perception & Psychophysics,63, 777–789.
Di Lollo, V. (1980). Temporal integration in visual memory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,109, 75–97.
Duncan, J., Martens, S., &Ward, R. (1997). Restricted attentional capacity within but not between sensory modalities.Nature,387, 808–810.
Duncan, J., Ward, R., &Shapiro, K. (1994). Direct measurement of attentional dwell time in human vision.Nature,369, 313–315.
Gescheider, G. A., &Niblette, R. K. (1967). Cross-modality masking for touch and hearing.Journal of Experimental Psychology,74, 313–320.
Hillstrom, A. P. (2000). Repetition effects in visual search.Perception & Psychophysics,62, 800–817.
Hillstrom, A. P., Shapiro, K. L., &Spence, C. (2002). Attentional limitations in processing sequentially presented vibrotactile targets.Perception & Psychophysics,64, 1068–1082.
Hughes, H. C. (1999).Sensory exotica: A world beyond human experience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Jolicoeur, P. (1999). Restricted attentional capacity between sensory modalities.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,6, 87–92.
Jolicoeur, P., &Dell’Acqua, R. (1999). Attentional and structural constraints on visual encoding.Psychological Research/Psychologische Forschung,62, 154–164.
Maljkovic, V., &Nakayama, K. (1994). Priming of pop-out: I. Role of features.Memory & Cognition,22, 657–672.
McDonald, J. J., &Ward, L. M. (1999). Spatial relevance determines facilitatory and inhibitory effects of auditory covert spatial orienting.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,25, 1234–1252.
Pallier, C., Dupoux, E., &Jeannin, X. (1997). EXPE: An expandable programming language for on-line psychological experiments.Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers,29, 322–327.
Potter, M. C., Chun, M. M., Banks, B. S., &Muckenhoupt, M. (1998). Two attentional deficits in serial target search: The visual attentional blink and an amodal task-switch deficit.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,24, 979–992.
Quinlan, P. T., &Hill, N. I. (1999). Sequential effects in rudimentary auditory and visual tasks.Perception & Psychophysics,61, 375–384.
Raymond, J. E., Shapiro, K. L., &Arnell, K. M. (1992). Temporary suppression of visual processing in an RSVP task: An attentional blink?Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,18, 849–860.
Shapiro, K. L., Raymond, J. E., &Arnell, K. M. (1994). Attention to visual pattern information produces the attentional blink in rapid serial visual presentation.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,20, 357–371.
Soto-Faraco, S., &Spence, C. [J.] (2002). Modality-specific auditory and visual temporal processing deficits.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,55A, 23–40.
Spence, C. [J.] (2001). Crossmodal attentional capture: A controversy resolved. In C. Folk & B. Gibson (Eds.),Attraction, distraction, and action: Multiple perspectives on attentional capture (pp. 231–262). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Spence, C. J., &Driver, J. (1994). Covert spatial orienting in audition: Exogenous and endogenous mechanisms facilitate sound localization.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,20, 555–574.
Spence, C. [J.], &Driver, J. (1997a). Audiovisual links in exogenous covert spatial orienting.Perception & Psychophysics,59, 1–22.
Spence, C. [J.], &Driver, J. (1997b). On measuring selective attention to a specif ic sensory modality.Perception & Psychophysics,59, 389–403.
Spence, C. [J.], Nicholls, M. E. R., &Driver, J. (2001). The cost of expecting events in the wrong sensory modality.Perception & Psychophysics,63, 330–336.
Spence, C. [J.], Nicholls, M. E. R., Gillespie, N., &Driver, J. (1998). Cross-modal links in exogenous covert spatial orienting between touch, audition, and vision.Perception & Psychophysics,60, 544–557.
Spence, C. [J.], Pavani, F., &Driver, J. (2000). Crossmodal links between vision and touch in covert endogenous spatial attention.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,26, 1298–1319.
Stein, B. E., &Meredith, M. A. (1993).The merging of the senses. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Ward, L. M. (1994). Supramodal and modality-specific mechanisms for stimulus-driven shifts of auditory and visual attention.Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology,48, 242–259.
Ward, R., Duncan, J., &Shapiro, K. (1996). The slow time course of visual attention.Cognitive Psychology,30, 79–109.
Ward, R., Duncan, J., &Shapiro, K. (1997). Effects of similarity, difficulty, and nontarget presentation on the time course of visual attention.Perception & Psychophysics,59, 593–600.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was partially supported by a Network Grant from the McDonnell—Pew Centre in Oxford. We thank Vince Di Lollo for insightful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript, Thomas Hope for help in the testing phase, and Xavier Mayoral for programming assistance with Expe6.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Soto-Faraco, S., Spence, C., Fairbank, K. et al. A crossmodal attentional blink between vision and touch. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 9, 731–738 (2002). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196328
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196328