利用系統多因子技術檢驗視聽訊息的認知處理歷程

Previous studies have shown that visual and auditory information are correlated, leading to an integration
account for visual and auditory processing. However, in previous studies, the inferences regarding the processing
characteristics of visual and auditory information had limitations. Therefore, we adopted the core concepts of Systems
Factorial Technology to design experiments, analyze data, and make inferences regarding the processing of visual and
auditory signals. Two experiments were performed: In Experiment 1, we used the constant stimuli method to measure
participants’ psychometric functions for detecting visual and auditory targets. According to the psychophysics results,
we adopted a double factorial design to regenerate the stimuli and test the participants in Experiment 2. The results
revealed that all of the participants adopted a parallel, self-terminating strategy to process visual and auditory signals. In
addition, the processing capacity varied across the participants. The results did not support the predictions derived from
the independent race model or coactivation model. These results are more likely to be explained by the interactive race
model, in which visual and auditory information is assumed to be processed in parallel, with crosstalk between visual and auditory channels during information accumulation, and the decision follows a self-terminating stopping rule. The theoretical implications of our findings will be explained in general discussion.