Auditory Psychomotor Coordination

Abstract

A series of choice-reaction time experiments are described in which subjects were required to locate and identify the information contained on a small visual target. Across trials, the lateral position of the target was randomly varied across a 240° region (± 120° relative to the subject's initial line of gaze). The vertical position of the target was either fixed at 0° elevation or varied by ± 46°. Whether the target was in the forward or lateral field, a significant reduction in the visual search period was evident when an acoustic signal indicated the location of the visual target. Auditory spatial information was particularly effective in improving performance when the position of the target was varied in elevation or the target was located in the rear field. The current results support the notion that the auditory system can be used to direct eye-head movements toward a remote visual target.