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Effects of temporal order and intentionality on reflective attention to words in noise

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Abstract

Speech perception in noise is a cognitively demanding process that challenges not only the auditory sensory system, but also cognitive networks involved in attention. The predictive coding theory has been influential in characterizing the influence of prior context on processing incoming auditory stimuli, with comparatively less research dedicated to “postdictive” processes and subsequent context effects on speech perception. Effects of subsequent semantic context were evaluated while manipulating the relationship of three target words presented in noise and the temporal position of targets compared to the subsequent contextual cue, demonstrating that subsequent context benefits were present regardless of whether the targets were related to each other and did not depend on the position of the target. However, participants instructed to focus on the relation between target and cue performed worse than those who did not receive this instruction, suggesting a disruption of a natural process of continuous speech recognition. We discuss these findings in relation to lexical commitment and stimulus-driven attention to short-term memory as mechanisms of subsequent context integration.

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Availability of data and material

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

Code used to analyse the data from the study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This research was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Grant (RGPIN-2016-05523) awarded to CA.

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Authors

Contributions

TMVC: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review and editing, Visualization, Project administration; BRB: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, writing—review and editing; CA: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing—review and editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claude Alain.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This study was approved by the Research Ethics Board at Baycrest Health Sciences and was performed in accordance with the standards in the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

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Chan, T.M.V., Buchsbaum, B.R. & Alain, C. Effects of temporal order and intentionality on reflective attention to words in noise. Psychological Research 86, 544–557 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-021-01494-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-021-01494-6

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