Crossmodal spatial attention shift produced by centrally presented gaze cues

Abstract

Despite previous failures to identify visual-upon-auditory spatial-cuing effects, recent studies have demonstrated that the abrupt onset of a lateralized visual stimulus triggers a shift of spatial attention in response to auditory judgment. Nevertheless, whether a centrally presented visual stimulus orients auditory attention remained unclear. The present study investigated whether centrally presented gaze cues trigger a reflexive shift of attention in response to auditory judgment. Participants fixated on a schematic face in which the eyes looked left or right (the cue). A target sound was then presented to the left or right of the cue. Participants judged the direction of the target as quickly as possible. Even though participants were told that the gaze direction did not predict the direction of the target, the response time was significantly faster when the gaze was in the target direction than when it was in the non-target direction. These findings provide initial evidence for visual-upon-auditory spatial-cuing effects produced by centrally presented cues, suggesting that a reflexive crossmodal shift of attention does occur with a centrally presented visual stimulus. © 2008 Japanese Psychological Association.