Abstract
Subjects listened for increments in the duration of recurrent white noise pulses delivered to either the left or the right ear during a 1-h vigilance session. The temporal uncertainty of critical signal occurrences was varied by use of signal densities of 24, 48, and 96 signals/hour. Response times to signal detections increased as a function of an information measure of the temporal uncertainty of signals with a markedly stronger effect from left-ear presentation. Thus, a functional lateral asymmetry in the cortical processing of temporal information in this type of task was indicated.
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Supported in part by the Institute of Space Sciences of the University of Cincinnati under National Aeronatics and Space Administration Grant NGL-36-004-014.
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Warm, J.S., Schumsky, D.A. & Hawley, D.K. Ear asymmetry and the temporal uncertainty of signals in sustained attention. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 7, 413–416 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337233
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337233