Attention and multidimensional discrimination1

Observers’ ability to perform several discrimination tasks at the same time was tested using a two-alternative temporal forced-choice procedure. Discrimination of two auditory dimensions (pitch and intensity) and two visual dimensions (horizontal position and vertical position) was measured under conditions where one, two or all four dimensions required attention. Three signal durations were used: 67, 133, and 200 msec. Increasing the number of dimensions requiring attention systematically reduces the precisions of discrimination for each dimension. Auditory and visual discrimination is affected similarly. The amount of reduction in discrimination is independent of whether the dimensions requiring attention involve the same or different sensory modalities. The data are analyzed for evidence of a constant processing capacity employed in both single and multidimensional discrimination. The possibility that the observed performance levels could be achieved by sequentially processing the simultaneous inputs is also considered.

[1]  Mowbray Gh Simultaneous vision and audition; the detection of elements missing from overlearned sequences. , 1952 .

[2]  D. Broadbent,et al.  Division of attention and the decision theory of signal detection , 1963, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.

[3]  A. Welford THE ‘PSYCHOLOGICAL REFRACTORY PERIOD’ AND THE TIMING OF HIGH‐SPEED PERFORMANCE—A REVIEW AND A THEORY , 1952 .

[4]  Comments on “Interaction of the Auditory and Visual Sensory Modalities” [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 41, 1–6 (1967)] , 1967 .

[5]  P. H. Lindsay,et al.  Quantification of shared capacity processing in auditory and visual discrimination. , 1967, Acta psychologica.

[6]  G. H. Mowbray The Perception of Short Phrases Presented Simultaneously for Visual & Auditory Reception , 1954 .

[7]  Mowbray Gh Simultaneous vision and audition: the comprehension of prose passages with varying levels of difficulty. , 1953 .

[8]  Kristofferson Ab ATTENTION IN TIME DISCRIMINATION AND REACTION TIME. NASA CR-194. , 1965 .

[9]  K. J. Craik THEORY OF THE HUMAN OPERATOR IN CONTROL SYSTEMS , 1948 .

[10]  A. Treisman,et al.  Selective Attention: Perception or Response? , 1967, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[11]  G. H. Mowbray,et al.  Perception and Retention of Verbal Information Presented during Auditory Shadowing , 1964 .

[12]  A. Vendrik,et al.  CAN A SENSORY SYSTEM BE SPECIFIED BY ITS INTERNAL NOISE? , 1965, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[13]  W. K. Taylor,et al.  Some Further Experiments upon the Recognition of Speech, with One and with Two Ears , 1954 .

[14]  D. Broadbent Perception and communication , 1958 .

[15]  S M Forbes,et al.  Cue Timing in a Multi-Dimensional Detection Task , 1967, Perceptual and motor skills.

[16]  Poulton Ec,et al.  Two-channel listening. , 1953 .

[17]  H. Hopkins,et al.  Interaction of the auditory and visual sensory modalities. , 1967, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[18]  A. Treisman VERBAL CUES, LANGUAGE, AND MEANING IN SELECTIVE ATTENTION. , 1964, The American journal of psychology.