An investigation in to the cause of recalibration after adaptation to auditory stimuli

Kathleen Nancarrow (2011). An investigation in to the cause of recalibration after adaptation to auditory stimuli Honours Thesis, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland.

       
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Author Kathleen Nancarrow
Thesis Title An investigation in to the cause of recalibration after adaptation to auditory stimuli
School, Centre or Institute School of Psychology
Institution The University of Queensland
Publication date 2011-10-12
Thesis type Honours Thesis
Supervisor Associate Professor Derek Arnold
Total pages 46
Language eng
Subjects 1701 Psychology
Abstract/Summary Do humans have an accurate sense of timing? For humans to determine if they caused a sensory event, an amount of accuracy is needed. For example, if you hear the sound of a stick breaking, was it due to your footfall or due to another person or animal? We can make this distinction in relation to our step and when the stick was heard to break. Our sense of timing relationships needs to be malleable as there is a delay between the physical timing of an event and when the sensory signals from that event reach the brain. A demonstration of such malleability involves having people repeatedly press a button causing a beep. If a delay is inserted between the button presses and the beeps, and is later taken away, the beeps can appear to precede the button press that caused them. There is some ambiguity regarding the events which are involved in this apparent recalibration. In this study I introduce a ballistic reach between the initiation of an action leading to a button press and the button press itself. By varying the length of the ballistic reach it is possible to discern if the critical events for causality recalibration involves the decision to initiate the action or the motor planning required to execute the action. The results suggest that the critical relationship is between the tactile signals concerning actual button presses and subsequent auditory processing. The initiation of action and the motor planning are not significant factors.
Keyword Auditory stimuli
Determination of cause of sensory event

 
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Created: Wed, 20 Jun 2012, 16:03:43 EST by Mrs Ann Lee on behalf of School of Psychology