Abstract
This study assessed the effects of variations in signal rise-decay time on response latencies to the onset and cessation of a 1,000-Hz tone. Onset and offset reactions were combined factorially with five rates of signal rise-decay (0.5, 5, 25, 100, and 250 msec) to produce a total of 10 experimental conditions. Offset RTs were significantly longer than onset RTs when the rise-decay time of the tone was 250 msec. Disparities in speed of reaction to tone onset and cessation were negligible at the remaining rates of signal rise-decay.
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Supported in part by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, Department of the Army, under Research Contract No. DADA17-68-C-8059, “Stimulus Factors in Human Timing Behavior.” The authors are indebted to Drs. Kenneth G. Donnelly, Michel Loeb, Donald A. Schumsky, and Marvin Schwartz, for their helpful comments and to Mr. John Shaugnessy for technical assistance.
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Warm, J.S., Foulke, E. Effects of rate of signal rise and decay on reaction time to the onset and offset of acoustic stimuli. Perception & Psychophysics 7, 159–160 (1970). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03208647
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03208647