ABSTRACT
Basic and applied studies in cognition have generally used visual tasks to explore different aspects of human information processing. Nevertheless, although not as numerous, studies using nonverbal auditory tasks have also played an important role in investigations of perceptual and cognitive processing. Such tasks have ranged from simple clicks (to measure the brain stem evoked potential), to tones, musical patterns, environmental sounds, and rhythms. Neuroelectromagnetic responses to nonverbal sounds can be used to examine the integrity of central auditory pathways in infants and other nonverbal populations. Auditory detection tasks have been used to examine what has been termed the psychological refractory period (PRP) and as a secondary task index of mental workload. In fact, auditory tasks are frequently used to assess mental workload (Harms, 1986, 1991; Ullsperger, Freude, & Erdmann, 2001; Zeitlin, 1995); cognitive functioning, particularly after brain injury (Allen, Goldstein, & Aldarondo, 1999; Loring & Larrabee, 2006); and cognitive aging (Schneider & Pichora-Fuller, 2000).
