Replicating and Extending Hemispheric Asymmetries in Auditory Distraction: No Metacognitive Awareness for the Left-Ear Disadvantage for Changing-State Sounds

Abstract

In two experiments investigating hemispheric asymmetries in auditory distraction, the spatial location of to-be-ignored sound was manipulated. Prior studies indicated a left-ear disadvantage for changing-state sequences during short-term serial recall but lacked a direct measure of the changing-state effect. Experiment 1 compared changing-state with steady-state sequences in a visual-verbal serial recall task, confirming that left-ear disruption resulted from the acoustically varying nature of the sound, emphasizing right hemisphere dominance for processing acoustic variation in unattended stimuli. Experiment 2 replicated these findings and explored participants' metacognitive awareness of auditory distractors' disruptive potential. While participants were aware that changing-state sequences were more disruptive than steady-state sequences, they lacked awareness of the left-ear disadvantage. The study suggests individuals have metacognitive awareness of the disruptive impact of changing-state over steady-state sound but not of the accompanying left-ear disadvantage, raising implications for theoretical accounts of auditory distraction.