Hand proximity facilitates spatial discrimination of auditory tones
Philip Tseng1, Jiaxin Yu2, Ovid J L Tzeng3
1Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University Jhongli City, Taiwan ; Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, Brain and Consciousness Research Center New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Frontiers in Psychology
|June 27, 2014
Summary
Hand proximity affects auditory attention, influencing reaction times. This suggests that the space around our hands impacts perception across different senses, not just vision.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- The influence of hand proximity on visual attention is established.
- Research has yet to fully explore if similar effects extend to auditory perception.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of hand proximity on auditory spatial and pitch discrimination.
- To determine if hand proximity affects auditory attention similarly to visual attention.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed auditory-spatial, pitch, and combined spatial-pitch discrimination tasks.
- Hand position (near or away from audio source) was manipulated.
- Reaction times were measured for each condition.
Main Results:
- A right-hand advantage in reaction time was observed when hands were away from the audio source.
- This right-hand advantage diminished when hands were near the audio source due to improved left-hand performance.
- No significant effects of hand proximity were found for pitch discrimination tasks.
Conclusions:
- The perceptual and attentional effects of hand proximity extend beyond vision to auditory stimuli.
- This supports a multimodal account of attentional space around the hands.
- Findings may inform dual mechanism hypotheses reconciling multimodal and sensory-specific processing accounts.
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