| There are conflicting theoretical explanations of the deviation effect and the changing-state effect in the study of the irrelevant sound.Two main theoretical positions have been proposed to explain how these effects arise: the unitary account and the duplex-mechanism account.In this study,we address this question by studying the influence of top-down cognitive control on memory,three experiments were conducted.Experiment 1 was designed to explore the effect of different sound stimulus sequences on serial memory under different cognitive load task.A 3(auditory condition: changing-state sounds,deviant sounds,quiet)× 2(task-difficulty: low,high)mixed design was used.Experiment 2 aimed to study whether disruption by irrelevant sound is modulated by expectations about the degree to which distractors would disrupt serial recall performance.A mixed design was used,2(expectation: low expectation,high expectation)× 2(auditory condition: changing-state sounds,deviant sounds)mixed design was used.In Experiment 3,we examined whether cognitive control processes also have an effect on task performance when the irrelevant music is replaced by irrelevant speech,using irrelevant speech allowed us to explore possible boundary conditions of the effect of expectations observed in Experiment 2.The results of the study as follow:(1)Under low task-difficulty,the presence of a voice-deviant in the irrelevant auditory sequence markedly impairs serial recall;however,under high task-difficulty,this effect is eliminated.(2)Expectations about the degree of disruption had impact on the irrelevant sound effect on serial recall when participants were exposed to deviant sounds.(3)Disruption by deviant sounds is modulated by expectations,although irrelevant speech was used.Deviation effect can be eliminated by cognitive control,changing-state effect is immune to such control.This convergence of experimental and psychometric data strongly supports a duplex-mechanism account of auditory distraction. |
PDF Full Text Request