Multimodal spatial attention - primary data from an EEG study of sighted and blind persons.

Research Questions/Hypotheses:

Research Design:

Quasi-experimental design, mixed design, laboratory experiment; single measurements

Measurement Instruments/Apparatus:

Event-related potentials (ERPs) to auditory stimuli (white noise from the left or right speaker) and tactile stimuli (metal pin on the left or right index finger) were collected under different attention conditions. Subjects were asked to respond only to a particular sensory modality that deviated from a given side. There were 4 different attention conditions: left tactile stimuli, right tactile stimuli, left auditory stimuli, and right auditory stimuli. Behavioral measures (reaction times, error rates) as well as the recordings of 61 EEG electrodes were recorded.
ERPs were calculated from these recordings based on the no-reaction relevant stimuli under said attention conditions. The mean amplitudes of selected time windows (100-170ms, 200-240ms, and 200-350ms for auditory potentials; 70-100ms, 125-175ms, and 200-280ms for tactile potentials) were exported as data matrices. For more detailed information see also Hötting, Rösler, and Röder (2003, 2004).

Data Collection Method:

Data collection in the presence of an experimenter

• Individual administration
• Computer-supported
• special equipment/measuring instruments, EEG recordings

Population:

healthy college students and subjects blind from birth

Survey Time Period:

survey time period for sighted subjects: 5/2001-8/2001,
survey time period for blind subjects: 12/2001-6/2002

Sample:

Convenience sample

Gender Distribution:

53,3% female subjects (n=16)
46,7% male subjects (n=14)

Age Distribution: 20-37 years

Spatial Coverage (Country/Region/City): Germany/Hessen/Marburg

Subject Recruitment:

Fliers were posted in the Department of Psychology and the cafeteria of the University of Marburg. Recruitment of blind subjects for this study was done using the subject card index of the department of Cognitive Psychophysiology, University of Marburg. These blind subjects were originally recruited through the German Institute for the Blind (Deutsche Blindenstudienanstalt, Marburg) and the German Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted (Deutscher Verein der Blinden und Sehbehinderten, DVBS). Psychology undergraduates received test-subject credit hours while other participants were paid 7€/hour.

Sample Size:

30 individuals (15 sighted subjects and 15 blind subjects)

Return/Drop Out:

Only 1 sighted subject was not included in the sample due to technical difficulties during the experiment (a total of 16 sighted subjects participated).