The temporal order judgment paradigm : subcortical attentional contribution under exogenous and endogenous cueing conditions

• Published in: Neuropsychologia Vol. 37; no. 5; pp. 511 - 520
• Main Authors: ZACKON, D. H, CASSON, E. J, ZAFAR, A, STELMACH, L, RACETTE, L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Science 01.05.1999
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anatomical correlates of behavior; Attention; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Mental Processes; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Visual Pathways - physiology; Visual Perception; Human; Central nervous system; Monocular vision; Cognition; Time; Experimental study; Perception; Binocular vision; Subcortex; Visual attention; Stimulus order; Brain (vertebrata); Judgment
• ISSN: 0028-3932; 1873-3514
• DOI: 10.1016/S0028-3932(98)00134-1

The role of subcortical attentional processing was investigated under exogenous and endogenous cueing conditions. As retinotectal projections arise predominantly from the nasal retina i.e., temporal hemifield, subcortical attention should be distributed asymmetrically under monocular viewing conditions with a temporal hemifield advantage. We compared the results of monocular and binocular viewing conditions using a temporal order judgment (TOJ) paradigm. Subjects fixated a centrally located cross and two stimuli were presented with a variable onset asynchrony. Three experiments were conducted: no cue, exogenous cue and endogenous cue. Subjects reported which stimulus seemed to appear first. An effect consistent with subcortical processing was found under exogenous cueing conditions. No such effect was found under endogenous cueing conditions. We believe that subcortical attentional processing in response to an exogenous cue facilitates rapid shifts in attention towards environmental stimuli. We found no evidence for subcortical processing in voluntary directed attention and believe this process to be cortical in nature.