Temporal context manipulations and manual reaction times: The influence of temporal attention on behavioral performance.

Abstract

Manual reaction times (MRTs) are reduced when a warning signal precedes the onset of an imperative stimulus. The decrease in MRTs is modulated by uncertainty about the moment of stimulus occurrence after the warning stimulus. This modulation is related to preparatory mechanisms that occur during the foreperiod between the warning and imperative stimuli. Hence, manipulations within the range of foreperiods influence preparation and thus response latencies. When the moment of the occurrence of the imperative stimulus is highly predictable, volunteers can allocate resources in time to optimize their performance, a mechanism known as the temporal allocation of attention. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of temporal context (i.e., the duration and arrangement of intervals) on MRTs by conducting 2 experiments with different purposes. The first experiment verified which intervals were more susceptible to variations in the temporal context. The second experiment examined whether learning (i.e., practice) that is acquired by volunteers while in a temporal context affects performance if the temporal contexts are changed. Our data showed that short intervals were more susceptible to contextual influences. Participants could implicitly perceive the temporal context of the experiment and used this to optimize performance. Implicit learning obtained during a temporal context influenced response latencies for a period of time, even when the temporal context was changed. Our results complement many aspects of the results reported by other studies and confirm the importance of temporal attention for organizing and optimizing perception and behavioral performance.