Primacy Effect in Orienting Responses to Auditory Stimuli of Tones and Music

Abstract

This 2⁶ factorial experiment investigated the primacy effect in the orienting response. The type of stimuli (tone or “music”), stimulus intensities (loud or soft), length of adaptation period (same, 5 or 30 sec.; or different, 5 min.), interstimulus intervals (5 or 30 sec.), and sex were studied. College students, 32 males and 32 females were randomly assigned to each group. In the same condition, the tone (or music) was soft (or loud) for 5 sec. (or 30 sec.) in adaptation and was then changed alternately without interruption to loud, soft, etc. (or soft, loud, etc.) for 5 sec. (or 30 sec.). The different condition was identical except for the length of the adaptation period in which the stimuli sounded continuously for 5 min. Analyses of the GSR manifestation of the orienting responses indicated: (a) an over-all primacy effect with the auditory stimuli and (b) the primacy effect occurred in the 5-sec.-same but not in the 30-sec.-same condition as predicted.

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