Selective attention fails to alter the dichotic listening lag effect: Evidence that the lag effect is preattentional

Berlin et al. (1973) reported that either stimulus from a dichotic pair of consonant-vowel syllables is processed preferentially when its presentation is delayed by 30-60 ms. in the first of three experiments with 60 normal r ight-handed adults, we replicated the Berlin et al. "lag effect," but only for asynchronies between 60 and 90 ms. In Experiment 2 subjects focused att ention selectively on one ear. The results indicated that focused attention and stimulus asynchrony have additive effects: Performance improved at the attended ear irrespective of stimulus asynchrony, but the lag effect remai ned unchanged relative to the divided-attention condition; Experiment 3 ent ailed a signal detection task that allowed separate analysis of detection a nd localization accuracy. As in previous studies, selective attention to on e ear increased the accuracy of localization but not detection at the atten ded ear. Both dependent measures indicated a lag effect that remained invar iant as attention was manipulated. These findings imply that the lag effect is attributable to a preattentional stage of auditory processing. (C) 2000 Academic Press.