Effects of attending selectively to the spatial position of reflex-eliciting and reflex-modulating stimuli.

The question of whether automatic, sensory processes can be modified by selectively directing attention to stimuli was addressed by comparing effects on brainstem reflexes that share a common efferent pathway but have distinct afferent limbs. Subjects judged the duration of brief but intense blink-eliciting tones (Experiment 1) or weak tones preceding a blink-eliciting air puff at interstimulus intervals producing blink inhibition (Experiment 2). Tones occurred unpredictably at left, right, or midline loci; designation of the target location varied across blocks of trials. Latency of blinks to lateralized blink-eliciting targets was facilitated selectively, and the magnitude of blinks evoked by air puff following lateralized prestimulus targets was inhibited selectively. There was no evidence for a midline selective effect. Results appear to support a preset differential processing of stimuli in sensory pathways at low, possibly subcortical, levels and the consequent modification of obligatory, automatic processes.