Intermodality inconsistency of input and directed attention as determinants of the nature of adaptation.

Abstract

Induced displacements of the auditory and visual fields in opposite directions in 80 male undergraduates. During an adaptation period, experimental Ss localized a sounding, visible target, while control Ss were exposed to these auditory and visual cues sequentially, not simultaneously. Neither permitted Ss to view their own localizing movements; yet in the absence of such reafferent stimulation, Ss who were exposed to inconsistent information regarding the location of the target from the 2 relevant modalities evidenced adaptation and aftereffects. During the exposure period, different groups localized exclusively on the basis of either the visual or the auditory cues and ignored the inputs from the remaining modality. With visual emphasis only, auditory adaptation developed. With instructions to localize auditorily, visual adaptation resulted. A model was developed to account for adaptation based on a conflict between sensory inputs relevant to spatial location and efference issued in effecting the localizing response. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)