EFFECTS OF LATERALIZED CUES ON THE PROCESSING OF LATERALIZED AUDITORY-STIMULI

We examined the influence of auditory spatial cues on the processing o f subsequently presented lateralized auditory target stimuli. In three experiments, effects of the position of the cue on event-related pote ntials (ERPs) and reaction times (RTs) to the target, which could occu r at the same or at a different position to the cue, were examined. In Experiments I and II, stimulus-pairs were delivered via loudspeakers 13 degrees to the right or left of fixation. The cue was task-irreleva nt in the sense that it never required a response, whereas the target was task-relevant. In Experiment I, the cue was not informative about the position of the succeeding target, that is, the target was present ed at the same or at a different position to the cue with equal probab ility. In Experiment II, the cue predicted a target with high validity , occurring at the position opposite to the cue. In both experiments, the ERPs to targets presented at the same position as the preceding cu e were negatively modulated compared with the ERPs to targets presente d at a different position. This negative difference (Nd) between the E RPs to same and different position stimuli occurring between 200-300 m s relative to target onset was also obtained in situations where no ov ert behavior was required. Effects of cue position on RTs to the targe t were only observed in Experiment II, being shorter for validly predi cted targets. These Nd effects either reflect refractoriness of locati on-specific exogeneous ERP components or involuntary attentional selec tion. In order to decide between these alternatives, a third experimen t was performed, in which stimulus-pairs were presented via headphones to the left and right ear in attend and ignore condition. An Nd effec t was obtained in the attend condition only. The absence of Nd effects in the ignore condition suggests that the Nd obtained in attend condi tion cannot completely be explained by refractoriness of exogeneous ER P components and thus reflects attentional processes.