Abstract
In two experiments, we assessed the effects of directed attention on the elicitation and modification of the startle reflex. An acoustic startle stimulus was preceded on some trials by a tone at stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 120 or 240 msec (Experiment 1, N = 26) and 1,200 or 2,400 msec (Experiment 2, N = 24). On some trials, following the offset of the startle stimulus, either a tone or a tactile stimulus was presented to the hand (vibration in Experiment 1, airpuff in Experiment 2). On each of four blocks of trials, the subject was given one of the following tasks: Ignore all stimuli, or, when a particular tone prestimulus was presented (high frequency for some subjects, low frequency for others), judge the duration of (1) a tone following the startle stimulus, (2) a tactile stimulus following the startle stimulus, or (3) the startle stimulus itself. The subjects were instructed to ignore all the stimuli when the other tone prestimulus was presented. In the startle-probe-alone conditions, attending to the tactile stimulus increased acoustic startle reactivity (larger startle in Experiment 1, more probable and faster startle in Experiment 2) compared with startle in the ignore condition. Attending to the probe itself did not affect startle amplitude. Responding was similar when subjects attended to either the tone or the probe, suggesting that attention effects were modality specific, but not stimulus specific. Prestimuli at 120- and 240-msec SOAs inhibited startle amplitude in all cases, and this inhibition was more pronounced when attention was directed to any stimulus than in the ignore condition, showing nonspecific attentional effects at short SOAs. At longer SOAs, startle reflexes were inhibited more in the presence of nonsignal prestimuli than signal prestimuli. The increased startle reactivity, which occurred in both experiments when the subjects were required to shift attention from the auditory to the tactile modality, may have been due to greater task demands and, therefore, greater arousal in these conditions.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acocella, C. M., & Blumenthal, T. D. (1990). Directed attention influences the modification of startle reflex probability. Psychological Reports, 66, 275–285.
Anthony, B. J. (1985). In the blink of an eye: Implications of reflex modification for information processing. In P. K. Ackles, J. R. Jennings, & M. G. H. Coles (Eds.), Advances in psychophysiology (Vol. 1, pp. 168–218). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Anthony, B. J., & Graham, F. K. (1985). Blink reflex modification by selective attention: Evidence for the modulation of ‘automatic’ processing. Biological Psychology, 20, 43–59.
Bauer, L. O. (1982). Preparatory modification of the polysynaptic eyeblink reflex. Psychophysiology, 19, 550. (Abstract)
Blumenthal, T. D., & Berg, W. K. (1986). Stimulus rise time, intensity, and bandwidth effects on acoustic startle amplitude and probability. Psychophysiology, 23, 635–641.
Boelhouwer, A. J. W., Teurlings, R. F. M. A., & Brunia, C. H. M. (1991). The effect of an acoustic warning stimulus upon the electrically elicited blink reflex in humans. Psychophysiology, 28, 133–139.
Bohlin, G., & Graham, F. K. (1977). Cardiac deceleration and reflex blink facilitation. Psychophysiology, 14, 423–430.
Bohlin, G., Graham, F. K., Silverstein, L. D., & Hackley, S. A. (1981). Cardiac orienting and startle blink modification in novel and signal situations. Psychophysiology, 18, 603–611.
Britt, T. W., & Blumenthal, T. D. (1993). Social anxiety and latency of response to startle stimuli. Journal of Research in Personality, 27, 1–14.
Cuthbert, B., Bradley, M., McManis, M., Bruner, R., & Lang, P. (1993). Probe type and task in picture perception. Psychophysiology, 30, S22. (Abstract)
Delpezzo, E. M., & Hoffman, H. S. (1980). Attentional factors in the inhibition of a reflex by a visual stimulus. Science, 210, 673–674.
Filion, D. L., Dawson, M. E., & Schell, A. M. (1993). Modification of the acoustic startle-reflex eyeblink: A tool for investigating early and late attentional processes. Biological Psychology, 35, 185–200.
Filion, D. L., Dawson, M. E., & Schell, A. M. (1994). Probing the orienting response with startle modification and secondary reaction time. Psychophysiology, 31, 68–78.
Flaten, M. A., Vaksdal, A., & Hugdahl, K. (1989). An IBM-PC and Commodore 64 microcomputer-based system for elicitation and recording of eyeblink reflexes. Biological Psychology, 29, 291–298.
Garner, E. E., Berg, W. K., & Shortley, B. M. (1992). Blinks at your fingertips: Part II. The palmo-orbicularis oculi connection. Psychophysiology, 29, S33. (Abstract)
Graham, F. K. (1975). The more or less startling effects of weak prestimulation. Psychophysiology, 12, 238–248.
Graham, F. K. (1980). Control of reflex blink excitability. In L. H. Hicks, R. F. Thompson, & V. B. Shvyrkov (Eds.), Neural mechanisms of goal-directed behavior and learning (pp. 511–519). New York: Academic Press.
Graham, F. K., & Murray, G. M. (1977). Discordant effects of weak prestimulation on magnitude and latency of the reflex blink. Physiological Psychology, 15, 108–114.
Hackley, S. A., & Graham, F. K. (1987). Effects of attending selectively to the spatial position of reflex-eliciting and reflex-modulating stimuli. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 13, 411–424.
Harbin, T. J., & Berg, K. W. (1986). The effects of age and attention upon reflex inhibition. Biological Psychology, 22, 81–94.
Putnam, L. A., & Meiss, D. A. (1980). Reflex inhibition during HR deceleration: Selective attention of motor interference? Psychophysiology, 17, 324. (Abstract)
Putnam, L. A., & Meiss, D. A. (1981). Reflex blink facilitation during cardiac deceleration: Sensory or motor set? Psychophysiology, 18, 173. (Abstract)
Silverstein, L. D., Graham, F. K., & Bohlin, G. (1981). Selective attention effects on the reflex blink. Psychophysiology, 18, 240–247.
Skinner, J. E., & Yingling, C. D. (1977). Central gating mechanisms that regulate event-related potentials and behavior. In J. E. Desmedt (Ed.), Attention, voluntary contraction and slow potential shifts (pp. 30–69). Basel: Karger.
van Eekelen, A. P. J., Garner, E. E., Berg, W. K., & Boswell, A. E. (1993). Selective facilitation and inhibition of startle occurs late in warning interval. Psychophysiology, 30, S67. (Abstract)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported in part by a Norwegian Marshall Fund grant from the Norway America Association and was presented at the meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research in Rottach-Egern, Germany, October 1993.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blumenthal, T.D., Flaten, M.A. Selective effects of attentional direction on the startle reflex at different stages of processing. Psychobiology 22, 338–346 (1994). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03327117
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03327117