Journal
BRAIN AND COGNITION
Volume 84, Issue 1, Pages 153-163Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2013.12.001
Keywords
Temporal orienting; Auditory processing; Perceptual load; ERP; N1
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Funding
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) [LA 2486/1-2]
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Both filter and resource models of attention suggest an influence of task difficulty on the size of early attention effects. As for temporal orienting, the idea that early effects are modulated by task difficulty has not been tested directly, so far. To fill this empirical gap, the present study used an auditory temporal-orienting task, in which two differently pitched pure tones served as targets. To manipulate perceptual difficulty, the pitch difference between the targets was either small or large. Temporal orienting enhanced the N1 component of the auditory event-related potential. This early, sensory effect tended to be larger in the more difficult condition, particularly over the frontal scalp. Notably, increasing task difficulty affected predominantly the processing of attended stimuli. Hence, temporal orienting may operate by increasing processing resources or gain settings for the attended time point - rather than by withdrawing resources from the unattended time point. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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