An Investigation into the Midstream Order Deficit in a Multi-Modal Stimulus Sequence

Noah Sulman

Date of Award

2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

DeLong, Caroline

Keywords

Attention, Cycling Stimuli, Cognitive Psychology

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Individuals have difficulty assessing the order of cyclically presented stimuli; this phenomenon is known as the midstream order deficit. While previous research regarding cycling stimuli was conducted in one modality (either vision or audition), this study investigated whether the midstream order deficit would occur in a multi-rnodal stimulus sequence (vision and audition). Twenty participants were presented with a sequence of four elements, either three letters and one tone or four letters in either a cycling or single presentation condition. Each participant was exposed to both presentation speeds (120 or 240 ms per element). The dependent measure was the proportion of trials in which the sequence was detected correctly. The midstream order deficit was evident: participants performed poorly in the cycling-no tone condition as compared with participants in the single presentation-no tone condition (Ms = 41.6 vs. 89.2). The midstream order deficit was eliminated by the presence of the tone: participants performed comparably in the single presentation-no tone and cycling-tone condition (Ms = 41.6 vs. 89.2). This evidence indicates that the presence of a tone in a sequence captures transient attention, allowing for order encoding.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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