PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Jason Frederick Lickel

MA-Research
August 2003

On the Salience of Auditory Cues: Effects of Frequency, Amplitude Change and Spatial Location

    Auditory spatial cueing is an effective method of improving performance in a visual search task.  Little is known on the salient features of an auditory cue.  Candidates may be frequency, spatial location, and increasing amplitude.

    In the present study, 2 auditory cues were presented simultaneously, each coincident with a target.  Participants responded to which ever target they were drawn to first.  Cues were manipulated for spatial location, spectral similarity, direction of amplitude change, and frequency of the changing cue.  On each trial, 1 cue remained constant while the other cue was changing in amplitude.  The dependent variable was the percentage of times responding to the constant cue first.

    None of the predictions were supported form the results.  The results suggested that under the conditions tested frequency, increasing amplitude and spatial location were not salient features of an auditory cue.  Results are discussed in terms of individual differences and design implications.

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