Identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13003/17145
Distraction by deviant sounds during reading: An eye-movement study
Identifiers
ISSN: 1747-0218
eISSN: 1747-0226
WOS ID: 000485072500023
Scopus EID: 2-s2.0-85069268817
PMID: 30518304
Embase PUI: L628628720
Share
Statistics
Item usage statisticsMetadata
Show Dublin Core item recordPublication date
2019-07Document type
research articleCitation
Vasilev Martin R, Parmentier F, Angele B, Kirkby Julie A. Distraction by deviant sounds during reading: An eye-movement study. Q J Exp Psychol. 2019 Jul;72(7):1863-75. Epub 2019 Jan 13.Abstract
Oddball studies have shown that sounds unexpectedly deviating from an otherwise repeated sequence capture attention away from the task at hand. While such distraction is typically regarded as potentially important in everyday life, previous work has so far not examined how deviant sounds affect performance on more complex daily tasks. In this study, we developed a new method to examine whether deviant sounds can disrupt reading performance by recording participants' eye movements. Participants read single sentences in silence and while listening to task-irrelevant sounds. In the latter condition, a 50-ms sound was played contingent on the fixation of five target words in the sentence. On most occasions, the same tone was presented (standard sound), whereas on rare and unexpected occasions it was replaced by white noise (deviant sound). The deviant sound resulted in significantly longer fixation durations on the target words relative to the standard sound. A time-course analysis showed that the deviant sound began to affect fixation durations around 180ms after fixation onset. Furthermore, deviance distraction was not modulated by the lexical frequency of target words. In summary, fixation durations on the target words were longer immediately after the presentation of the deviant sound, but there was no evidence that it interfered with the lexical processing of these words. The present results are in line with the recent proposition that deviant sounds yield a temporary motor suppression and suggest that deviant sounds likely inhibit the programming of the next saccade.
Publisher version
https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1747021818820816MeSH
AdultAuditory Perception
Humans
Acoustic Stimulation
Attention
Noise
Task Performance and Analysis
Male
Reaction Time
Reading
Eye Movement Measurements
Female
Saccades
DeCS
FemeninoAnálisis y Desempeño de Tareas
Estimulación Acústica
Masculino
Lectura
Movimientos Sacádicos
Atención
Humanos
Ruido
Tiempo de Reacción
Adulto
Medidas del Movimiento Ocular
Percepción Auditiva