Selection for Action II: Multisensory Selection

考虑到我们的大脑在任何时候都可能处理大量的信息，为了能够执行日常行为，一个基本的先决条件是只选择当前与进一步处理相关的信息（Allport, 1987）。到目前为止，选择通常是在单一的感官模式下进行研究，主要是在视觉和听觉中。选择很少在触觉形态中得到解决。因此，在本课题的第一阶段，我们建立了一个新的关于接触中分心物加工的理论框架。具体而言，我们研究了格式塔分组影响视觉知觉的既定发现是否也适用于触觉信息加工。此外，我们还测试了触觉干扰物加工在空间任务中的后效。重要的是，我们的研究结果强调，相同的行为结果模式可能归因于视觉、听觉和触觉的不同认知过程。然而，人类是多感官生物。在过去十年左右的时间里，多感官知觉的研究越来越受欢迎（参见Calvert， Spence, & Stein, 2004; Stein, 2012）。此外，还研究了模式之间的选择和跨模式空间注意的约束（Spence & Driver, 2004）。重要的是，跨模态研究主要集中在相关信息的处理上，因此缺乏对多感觉干扰物处理的见解。因此，本项目的目标是从多感官的角度来研究分心物的加工。为此，在项目的第一阶段，我们已经开始表明，有无视觉会影响感官的触觉选择。然而，据我们所知，多感官刺激的选择还没有被研究过。在项目的第二阶段，我们的目标将是进一步了解那些具有视觉、听觉和触觉特征的刺激的选择。我们的目标是分别研究(1)空间注意影响受控制的任务中的多感官选择（实验系列A）以及(2)空间任务中的多感官选择（即基于位置的选择，实验系列B）。总的来说，这个更新项目将揭示我们在日常生活中经常做的事情，即当我们在不相关的背景下选择相关的多感官物体时，这些过程是如何起作用的。因此，它将补充有关分心物处理的文献，从而对多感官环境中的选择有更全面的理解。

Given the vast amount of information that is likely being processed by our brains at any moment, one basic prerequisite in order to be able to perform everyday actions is the selection of only that information that is currently relevant for further processing (Allport, 1987). So far, selection has typically been investigated within a single sensory modality, primarily within vision and audition. Selection has rarely been addressed within the tactile modality. Therefore, in the first phase of the current project, we established a new theoretical framework concerning distractor processing in touch. Specifically, we investigated whether the established finding that Gestalt grouping influences visual perception can also be applied to tactile information processing. Furthermore, we tested the aftereffects of tactile distractor processing in spatial tasks. Importantly, our findings highlight that the same pattern of behavioural results may be attributable to different cognitive processes in vision, audition, and touch.Yet, humans are multisensory creatures. Over the last decade or so, the study of multisensory perception has become increasingly popular (see Calvert, Spence, & Stein, 2004; Stein, 2012). Furthermore, selection between the modalities and the constraints on crossmodal spatial attention have also been examined (Spence & Driver, 2004). Importantly, crossmodal studies have focused on the processing of relevant information, so insights on the processing of multisensory distractors are lacking. The goal of the present project is therefore to investigate distractor processing from a multisensory perspective. To this end, in the first phase of the project we have already started to show that unisensory tactile selection is influenced by whether or not vision is available. Nonetheless, to the best of our knowledge, the selection of multisensory stimuli has not yet been investigated. In the second phase of the project, our goal will be to further our understanding of the selection of those stimuli having visual, auditory, and tactile features. We aim to separately investigate (1) multisensory selection in tasks in which the impact of spatial attention is controlled for (Experimental series A) as well as (2) multisensory selection in spatial tasks (i.e., where selection is location-based; Experimental series B). Taken together, the renewal project will reveal insights into those processes that are at work when we select relevant multisensory objects against a background of irrelevant ones, as we frequently do in everyday life. It will thus complement the literature on distractor processing, leading to a more holistic understanding of selection in a multisensory environment.