Switching in the cocktail party: Exploring intentional control of auditory selective attention.

Abstract

Using a novel variant of dichotic selective listening, we examined the control of auditory selective attention. In our task, subjects had to respond selectively to one of two simultaneously presented auditory stimuli (number words), always spoken by a female and a male speaker, by performing a numerical size categorization. The gender of the task-relevant speaker could change, as indicated by a visual cue prior to auditory stimulus onset. Three experiments show clear performance costs with instructed attention switches. Experiment 2 varied the cuing interval to examine advance preparation for an attention switch. Experiment 3 additionally isolated auditory switch costs from visual cue priming by using two cues for each gender, so that gender repetition could be indicated by a changed cue. Experiment 2 showed that switch costs decreased with prolonged cuing intervals, but Experiment 3 revealed that preparation did not affect auditory switch costs but only visual cue priming. Moreover, incongruent numerical categories in competing auditory stimuli produced interference and substantially increased error rates, suggesting continued processing of task-relevant information that often leads to responding to the incorrect auditory source. Together, the data show clear limitations in advance preparation of auditory attention switches and suggest a considerable degree of inertia in intentional control of auditory selection criteria.

Crossmodal attention switching: Auditory dominance in temporal discrimination tasks

“…Similar attention switch effects have also been found in switching between visual dimensions or features (e.g., Logan, 2005;Müller, Reimann, & Krummenacher, 2003) and between auditory dimensions and features (e.g., Koch, Lawo, Fels, & Vorländer, 2011), suggesting that the mechanisms underlying attention switches contribute to performance both across and within modalities.…”

The Effects of Boredom, Loneliness, and Distress Tolerance on Problem Internet Use Among University Students

“…Due to the ease of access to networked mobile devices, university students may find it difficult to remain on task and tend to switch between tasks. For example, it is likely that students who turn to the internet to avoid academic tasks they find boring will suffer in terms of their academic performance (Junco 2012;Koch et al 2011;Wood et al 2012). Not only is it more difficult to make sense of incoming information from the initial task (study), undertaking multiple tasks may create a bottleneck in working memory that limits how much information can be stored and consolidated.…”

Intentional attention switching in dichotic listening: Exploring the efficiency of nonspatial and spatial selection

“…To examine the intentional aspect of switching auditory attention, Koch, Lawo, Fels, and Vorländer (2011) introduced a version of the task-switching paradigm that combined the methodologies of dichotic listening (Cherry, 1953) and explicit task cueing (Meiran, 1996), one basic variant of task switching. In explicit task cueing, the sequence of tasks is unpredictable, and an instructional cue precedes the stimulus to indicate the next task (see, Jost, De Baene, Koch, & Brass, 2013, for a recent review).…”

“…The order of the tobe-attended gender switched unpredictably on a trial-by-trial basis. The main finding was that a cued switch of the relevant gender resulted in worse performance relative to repetitions: so called switch costs Koch et al, 2011;. To decompose switch costs in "pure" attention switch costs and perceptual cue-repetition priming effects, Koch et al (2011; see also used two cues per gender (Logan & Bundesen, 2003;Mayr & Kliegl, 2003;Monsell & Mizon, 2006) and found that cue-repetition priming effects contributed to switch costs but that substantial switch costs remained even if cue priming was excluded (see , for a discussion).…”