Divided Attention Revisited: Selection Based on Location or Pitch

摘要

The affect of attention on the level of cortical activity in human subjects was investigated by use of a novel paradigm involving the rapid and simultaneous presentation of two sequences of tones having different sets of frequencies. Measurements of the magnetic field of both the N100 and P200 components originating in auditory cortex showed enhancement for the attended sequence in comparison with the ignored sequence. This was observed whether the sequences were presented to different ears or the same ear. Thus pitch alone is a sufficient clue for attention. These results are also in general agreement with filter theories that postulate the attention of ignored stimuli prior to conscious perception.