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Operating in a Multisensory Context: Assessing the Interplay Between Multisensory Reaction Time Facilitation and
Luke H Shaw1, Edward G Freedman1, Michael J Crosse2
1The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
Neuroscience
|April 24, 2020
Summary
The redundant signals effect (RSE), where people react faster to multisensory stimuli, may be due to attention switching. This study suggests modality switching, not faster processing, explains RSE in mixed-modality tasks.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Factors
Background:
- The redundant signals effect (RSE) demonstrates faster reaction times to multisensory stimuli compared to unisensory stimuli.
- The co-activation account posits that integrated neural processing of unisensory inputs drives the RSE.
- Previous RSE research often uses mixed designs with random stimulus sequencing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether attention-switching costs, rather than enhanced processing, underlie the RSE in mixed-modality tasks.
- To re-evaluate the co-activation account of multisensory integration.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed tasks involving audio-visual, auditory-alone, and visual-alone stimuli in a mixed design.
- Reaction times to unisensory and bisensory stimuli were analyzed.
- Comparison of observed RSE with predictions from attention-switching models.
Main Results:
- Reaction times to unisensory stimuli were significantly slower in the mixed-modality design.
- The observed RSE was largely explained by the slowing of unisensory reaction times due to modality switching.
- Faster responses to bisensory stimuli were not consistently observed beyond what switching costs predict.
Conclusions:
- The RSE in mixed-modality paradigms is primarily an artifact of attention switching, not evidence for enhanced multisensory processing.
- The co-activation account is not supported by these findings; task-switching costs offer a more parsimonious explanation.
- Future research should consider modality switching when examining multisensory integration effects.
