Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Factors Affecting Perception

Factors Affecting Perception

Perception is influenced by perceptual set, context, motivation, and emotion. Perceptual set, or perceptual expectancy, refers to the tendency to perceive things in a particular way, influenced by previous experiences and expectations. This phenomenon affects the interpretation of stimuli, creating a set of mental tendencies and assumptions that impact sensory perceptions of sound, taste, touch, and sight.
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...

Perception

Perception

Perception is a fundamental psychological process that enables individuals to organize, interpret, and consciously experience sensory information. This process is crucial for understanding and interacting with the world around us. It includes both bottom-up and top-down processing, each playing a distinct role in how we perceive our environment.
Bottom-up processing begins at the sensory level, where receptors detect external environmental stimuli. These could include the tactile sensation of...

Subliminal Perception

Subliminal Perception

Subliminal perception refers to the processing of sensory information that occurs below the level of conscious awareness. Researchers study subliminal perception by presenting a stimulus, such as a word or image, very quickly, typically around 50 milliseconds. This rapid presentation is often followed by another stimulus, such as a pattern of dots or lines, which blocks further mental processing of the initial stimulus. As a result, if participants cannot identify the initial stimulus better...

Perceptual Constancy

Perceptual Constancy

Perceptual constancy is the ability to recognize that objects remain consistent and unchanged even when their appearance varies due to changes in sensory input. There are four main types of perceptual constancy: size constancy, shape constancy, color constancy, and brightness constancy.
Size constancy is the recognition that an object remains the same size, even when its image on the retina changes. For instance, a bus is perceived to be large enough to carry people, even if it looks tiny from...

Auditory Perception

Auditory Perception

The auditory system is essential for sound perception, utilizing various critical structures. When sound waves enter the outer ear, they travel through the ear canal and cause the eardrum to vibrate. These vibrations are then transmitted to the middle ear, where three tiny bones – the malleus, incus, and stapes – amplify the sound. This amplification is crucial, as it ensures that the sound vibrations are strong enough to be conveyed to the inner ear. These vibrations then reach the cochlea, a...

Lazarus's Cognitive Appraisal Theory

Lazarus's Cognitive Appraisal Theory

Cognitive psychologist Richard Lazarus proposed the cognitive-mediational theory of emotions, which emphasizes how individuals' assessments of stressors significantly affect their experience of stress. According to Lazarus, the stress response is determined by a two-step appraisal process: primary appraisal and secondary appraisal. These cognitive appraisals help individuals evaluate the potential impact of a stressor and determine the adequacy of their coping resources.
Primary Appraisal:...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Decoding semantic sound categories in early visual cortex.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2025

Same author

The heart in attention: evidence for cardiac phase effects in alerting but not executive control.

Biological psychology·2025

Same author

Going Beyond the Ordinary - User Perceptions of the Impact of Multisensory Elements on Presence in Virtual Reality at the Royal Opera House.

Multisensory research·2025

Same author

Barriers and enablers for safe medication administration in adult and neonatal intensive care units mapped to the behaviour change wheel.

Nursing in critical care·2023

Same author

Proteomic profiling of the brain from the <i>wobbler</i> mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis reveals elevated levels of the astrogliosis marker glial fibrillary acidic protein.

European journal of translational myology·2023

Same author

Losing your touch? Sustained inattentional numbness for dynamic tactile events.

Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 8, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Perceptual load does not modulate auditory distractor processing.

Sandra Murphy¹, Nick Fraenkel, Polly Dalton

¹Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX Surrey, UK.

|August 24, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Perceptual load does not affect auditory selective attention. The auditory system has surplus capacity, processing unattended sounds regardless of task demands, functioning as an early-warning system.

Keywords:

Auditory selective attention Distractor processing Perceptual load

More Related Videos

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Published on: February 1, 2012

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Published on: July 5, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 8, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Published on: February 1, 2012

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Published on: July 5, 2015

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Auditory Neuroscience
Attention Studies

Background:

Perceptual load theory in vision shows task difficulty impacts distractor processing.
Limited research exists on perceptual load's effect on auditory selective attention.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the influence of perceptual load on auditory selective attention.
To determine if manipulating task difficulty affects the processing of irrelevant auditory distractors.

Main Methods:

Four experiments were conducted using two distinct perceptual load manipulations.
Distractor processing was measured using response competition and awareness reports.

Main Results:

Consistent failure to find evidence supporting the role of perceptual load in auditory selective attention.
Auditory distractors were processed irrespective of the perceptual load in the attended task.

Conclusions:

The auditory system appears to possess surplus capacity for processing unattended information.
Auditory attention may not be constrained by perceptual load, supporting its 'early-warning' system function.