Simultaneous vision and audition: the comprehension of prose passages with varying levels of difficulty.

Abstract

Prose passages selected from fiction sources and having 3 levels of difficulty as detd. by a Flesch count were presented to subjects visually and aurally at the same time. Two groups of subjects were used[long dash]a group of naval enlisted men and a group from a university population. The auditory material was recorded on a magnetic tape recorder, whereas visual presentation was accomplished by means of a visual pacer that prevented forward and backward glancing. The speed of visual and auditory presentations was identical. Response was measured by a 10-item questionnaire designed to test for comprehension of the paragraph and for the retention of discrete facts. Scores obtained from simultaneous trials were compared with scores obtained from control groups that performed the same tasks nonsimultaneously. The following conclusions can be drawn: For simultaneous presentation significantly greater deterioration (from a nonsimultaneous level) occurred with the easy material, thus substantiating earlier findings. When scores from all paired presentations were separated on the basis of the lowest score and the highest score regardless of channel involved or level of difficulty of material, it was found that the lowest scores, with only one exception, did not differ significantly from a chance level. It was suggested that when the opportunity for rapid alternation of attention between sensory channels is severely reduced, the possibility of adequately performing both of 2 simultaneous perceptual tasks becomes more remote. The auditory channel showed significantly greater disruption of performance than the visual for the simultaneous operation.