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

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Crossmodal interference on counting performance: Evidence for shared attentional resources.

Claudia Del Gatto¹, Allegra Indraccolo¹, Tiziana Pedale^2,3

¹Experimental and Applied Psychology Laboratory, Department of Human Sciences, Università Europea di Roma, Rome, Italy.

|November 10, 2023

Summary

Auditory stimuli can disrupt visual counting. When sounds and visual counting tasks are misaligned, participants tend to undercount, suggesting attention is diverted from the visual task.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Crossmodal Perception

Background:

Perceptual systems integrate information from multiple sensory channels.
Crossmodal interference can occur when sensory information is discordant, impacting task performance.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how auditory stimuli affect visual sequential counting.
To differentiate between auditory infiltration of the internal counter (overcounting) and attentional distraction (undercounting).

Main Methods:

Participants counted sequentially presented visual discs.
Visual stimuli were presented with synchronized/de-synchronized auditory stimuli.
Stimuli featured regular/irregular pacing and fast/moderate/slow presentation speeds.

Main Results:

Participants tended to undercount visual stimuli under challenging conditions.
Undercounting was observed in de-synchronized, irregular, and fast sequences.
Results support the hypothesis that auditory stimuli divert attention.

Conclusions:

Exogenous auditory stimuli primarily disrupt visual counting by drawing attention away.
This crossmodal interference leads to undercounting rather than overcounting.
Findings contribute to understanding attentional mechanisms in crossmodal interactions.