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SKIN POTENTIAL RESPONSES AND THE SPAN OF ATTENTION
Author(s) -
Solley Charles M.,
Thetford Paul E.
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1967.tb02724.x
Subject(s) - psychology , audiology , tone (literature) , arousal , communication , social psychology , medicine , art , literature
Experiment I tested whether an alerting signal would increase the span of visual attention. Female S s (16) were presented an array of letters exposed for 2 sec by a tachistoscope. Half of the S s had a series of trials with a loud tone contiguous with the tachistoscope, followed by a series of trials with tachistoscope only. The remaining S s received a reverse procedure—half the trials with no tone initially, followed by tone. The group receiving only tachistoscope followed by a series of tachistoscope plus tone trials showed a significant improvement in the number of letters correctly reported. Experiment II repeated the above with skin potential (SP) recording throughout the session to test that the tone would generate a momentary state of arousal (an orienting response) and an increase in the span of attention. Tone significantly produced larger positive SP amplitudes and more diphasic SP responses, and increased the number of letters correctly reported. All differences disappeared during the second trial series.