Overt and covert attention and vibrotactile reaction times: Gaze direction, spatial compatibility and hemispatial asymmetry.

Performed 2 vibrotactile reaction time (RT) experiments, using 32 strongly dextral undergraduates to determine if (1) Ss attention toward/away from the operating hand effected RT and (2) there was an interaction with hand-hemispace and spatial compatibility. In Exp I, 16 Ss were administered a 250 Hz vibratory stimulus to the forefinger of a hand and were required to depress a switch as soon as the stimulus was felt. Hemispace of the stimulated hand was varied and head turns were recorded. In Exp II, 16 Ss were presented with stimuli to the left and the right hand and Ss looked at 1 hand for a block of trials. Results suggest that vibrotactile asymmetries may stem from differences in ability to hold covert attention in a number of spatial locations. It is suggested that overt and covert attention play different mediating roles in performance asymmetries, both at the hemispatial level and in classical anatomical connectivity paradigms of visual field and ear of entry. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)