CROSS-MODAL LINKS IN EXOGENOUS COVERT SPATIAL ORIENTING BETWEEN TOUCH, AUDITION, AND VISION

Three experiments investigated cross-modal links between touch, auditi on, and vision in the control of covert exogenous orienting. In the fi rst two experiments, participants made speeded discrimination response s (continuous vs, pulsed) for tactile targets presented randomly to th e index finger of either hand. Targets were preceded at a variable sti mulus onset asynchrony (150, 200, or 300 msec) by a spatially uninform ative cue that was either auditory (Experiment 1) or visual (Experimen t 2) on the same or opposite side as the tactile target. Tactile discr iminations were more rapid and accurate when cue and target occurred o n the same side, revealing cross-modal covert orienting. In Experiment 3, spatially uninformative tactile cues were presented prior to rando mly intermingled auditory and visual targets requiring an elevation di scrimination response (up vs, down). Responses were significantly fast er for targets in both modalities when presented ipsilateral to the ta ctile cue. These findings demonstrate that the peripheral presentation of spatially uninformative auditory and visual cues produces cross-mo dal orienting that affects touch, and that tactile cues can also produ ce cross-modal covert orienting that affects audition and vision.