Principles of cross-modal competition: Evidence from deficits of attention

How does the attentional system coordinate the processing of stimuli presented simultaneously to different sensory modalities? We investigated this question with individuals with neurological damage who suffered from deficits of attention. In these individuals, we examined how the processing of tactile stimuli is affected by the simultaneous presentation of visual or auditory stimuli. The investigation demonstrated that two stimuli from different modalities are in competition when attention is directed to the perceptual attributes of both, but not when attention is directed to the perceptual attributes of one and the semantic attributes of the other. These findings reveal a differentiated attentional system in which competition is modulated by the level of stimulus representation to which attention is directed.

[1]  Skyler Dean,et al.  Mind's Eye , 1973 .

[2]  M. Farah,et al.  Parietal lobe mechanisms of spatial attention: Modality-specific or supramodal? , 1989, Neuropsychologia.

[3]  F. Yates.  Contingency Tables Involving Small Numbers and the χ2 Test , 1934 .

[4]  Elisabetta Làdavas,et al.  Seeing where your hands are , 1997, Nature.

[5]  C. Frith,et al.  Unconscious activation of visual cortex in the damaged right hemisphere of a parietal patient with extinction. , 2000, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[6]  F. J. Friedrich,et al.  Effects of parietal injury on covert orienting of attention , 1984, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[7]  Leslie G. Ungerleider,et al.  The functional organization of human extrastriate cortex: a PET-rCBF study of selective attention to faces and locations , 1994, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[8]  C D Frith,et al.  Modulating irrelevant motion perception by varying attentional load in an unrelated task. , 1997, Science.

[9]  R. Desimone,et al.  Neural mechanisms of selective visual attention. , 1995, Annual review of neuroscience.

[10]  E. Bisiach,et al.  Unilateral Neglect of Representational Space , 1978, Cortex.

[11]  R Kakigi,et al.  [Event-related brain potentials]. , 1997, Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine.

[12]  Michael A. Regan,et al.  Division of Attention: The Single-Channel Hypothesis Revisited , 1989 .

[13]  A. Bonnel,et al.  Divided attention between simultaneous auditory and visual signals , 1998, Perception & psychophysics.

[14]  J. Driver.  Enhancement of selective listening by illusory mislocation of speech sounds due to lip-reading , 1996, Nature.

[15]  R Kawashima,et al.  Positron-emission tomography studies of cross-modality inhibition in selective attentional tasks: closing the "mind's eye". , 1995, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[16]  James V. Stone,et al.  When is now? Perception of simultaneity , 2001, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[17]  L. H. Shaffer,et al.  Attention in Transcription Skill , 1971 .

[18]  J. Driver,et al.  Audiovisual links in endogenous covert spatial attention. , 1996, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[19]  H. Pashler.  Dual-task interference in simple tasks: data and theory. , 1994, Psychological bulletin.

[20]  Leslie G. Ungerleider,et al.  Object and spatial visual working memory activate separate neural systems in human cortex. , 1996, Cerebral cortex.

[21]  C D Wickens,et al.  Codes and Modalities in Multiple Resources: A Success and a Qualification , 1988, Human factors.

[22]  J. Duncan,et al.  Attention and reading: Wholes and parts in shape recognition: A tutorial review. , 1987 .

[23]  M. Posner,et al.  Neural systems control of spatial orienting. , 1982, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[24]  H. Buchtel,et al.  Spatial attentional shifts: Implications for the role of polysensory mechanisms , 1988, Neuropsychologia.

[25]  Dominic W. Massaro,et al.  Dividing attention between auditory and visual perception , 1977 .

[26]  M. Jeannerod.  Neurophysiological and neuropsychological aspects of spatial neglect. , 1987 .

[27]  C. Spence,et al.  Cross-modal links in exogenous covert spatial orienting between touch, audition, and vision , 1998, Perception & psychophysics.

[28]  C. Umilta.  Domain-specific forms of neglect. , 1995, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology.

[29]  Cj Spence,et al.  Audiovisual links in endogenous covert orienting. , 1996 .

[30]  Christopher D. Wickens,et al.  The Structure of Attentional Resources , 1980 .

[31]  J. A. Kleiss,et al.  Locus and persistence of capacity limitations in visual information processing. , 1986, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[32]  Jon Driver,et al.  Covert Spatial Orienting in Audition: Exogenous and Endogenous Mechanisms , 1994 .

[33]  C. Spence,et al.  Multisensory prior entry. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[34]  M. B. Bender,et al.  Disorders in perception : with particular reference to the phenomena of extinction and displacement , 1952 .

[35]  N. Lavie.  Perceptual load as a necessary condition for selective attention. , 1995, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[36]  M. Kinsbourne.  Mechanisms of Unilateral Neglect , 1987 .

[37]  M. Hallett,et al.  Activation of the primary visual cortex by Braille reading in blind subjects , 1996, Nature.

[38]  N Moray,et al.  Where is capacity limited? A survey and a model. , 1967, Acta psychologica.

[39]  L. C. Oatman.  Effects of visual attention on the intensity of auditory evoked potentials , 1976, Experimental Neurology.

[40]  Giuseppe di Pellegrino,et al.  Neuropsychological Evidence of an Integrated Visuotactile Representation of Peripersonal Space in Humans , 1998, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[41]  C. Spence,et al.  Multisensory perception: Beyond modularity and convergence , 2000, Current Biology.

[42]  S. Coren,et al.  Attention : contemporary theory and analysis , 1972 .

[43]  J. C. Johnston,et al.  Attentional limitations in dual-task performance. , 1998 .

[44]  B BenderMorris,et al.  DISORDERS IN PERCEPTION , 1954 .

[45]  Jon Driver,et al.  Attentional competition between modalities: extinction between touch and vision after right hemisphere damage , 1997, Neuropsychologia.

[46]  Daniel G Bobrow,et al.  On data-limited and resource-limited processes , 1975, Cognitive Psychology.

[47]  J. Andreassi,et al.  Effects of bisensory stimulation on reaction time and the evoked cortical potential , 1975 .

[48]  Carlo Umiltà,et al.  A rehabilitation study of hemispatial neglect , 1994 .

[49]  P. Jolicoeur.  Restricted attentional capacity between sensory modalities , 1999, Psychonomic bulletin & review.