PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Scott McWilliams

Industrial/Organizational
August 1990

Intersensory Facilitation: Reaction Time as a Function of Degree of
Spatial Correspondence between Primary and Accessory Stimuli

   
    The purpose of the present study was to determine if the location of an auditory accessory stimulus affected choice reaction time to a visual imperative stimulus when the location of the imperative stimulus was varied.  Thirty male and thirty female subjects participated in three experimental conditions.  In each condition the relationship between the imperative and accessory stimuli differed.  Subjects were instructed to press a button which corresponded to the location of the imperative stimulus.
    The original hypotheses were not supported, however, the results indicated that the auditory accessory stimuli significantly facilitated the reaction times of the males, but not the females.  This unanticipated difference between the sexes is most likely due to a difference in motivation.  This factor needs to be taken into account in future investigations of intersensory facilitation.

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