关键词: 序列依赖, 任务, 刺激, 反应, 跨通道

Abstract: The serial dependence effect reflects how immediately preceding experiences influence subsequent perceptual processing. Research has shown that the serial dependence effect in the duration bisection task can be categorized into two types: the repulsive stimulus serial dependence effect and the attractive response serial dependence effect. Both effects exhibit modality specificity, meaning they cannot be generalized across different sensory modalities, such as vision and audition. Considering the distinctions between the duration bisection task and duration reproduction task, it remains unclear whether similar stimulus and response serial dependence effects occur, and whether these effects can generalize across different sensory modalities in the duration reproduction task. In the present study, we investigated serial dependence effects and their cross-modal effects in the duration reproduction task, and further explored the impact of task paradigm on the cross-modal effects of stimulus and response serial dependence effects in duration perception. The duration reproduction task and generalized linear models were used in three experiments. Specifically, 24 naïve volunteers participated in Experiment 1, completing visual and auditory duration reproduction tasks in separate blocks. In the experiment, participants were required to reproduce the duration of a test stimulus—one of five durations ranging from 500 to 1200 ms in equal logarithmic steps—by pressing and holding a button for the matching duration. A new group of 25 volunteers was recruited for Experiment 2. The task was similar to that of Experiment 1, except that visual and auditory stimuli were pseudorandomly presented within a single block. A new set of 32 participants took part in Experiment 3, in which they completed both duration reproduction and duration bisection tasks. The reproduction task was identical to that in Experiment 2, while the bisection task required participants to judge whether the duration of the test stimulus was longer or shorter than a reference stimulus of intermediate duration once the test stimulus disappeared. The results of Experiment 1 showed that the duration of the previous stimulus and the previous reproduction exerted opposite effects on serial dependence: a repulsive stimulus serial dependence effect and an attractive response serial dependence effect. In other words, current duration estimates were repelled by the previous trial’s stimulus duration but attracted toward the previous reproduction duration. Moreover, Experiment 2 indicated that both stimulus and response serial dependence effects could be partially transferred between visual and auditory modalities. This finding contrasts with the modality-specific effects observed in earlier studies employing the duration bisection task. However, the test durations used in Experiment 2 were longer than those employed in previous duration bisection tasks. To rule out the influence of test duration and further investigate the impact of task paradigm on the cross-modal effects of serial dependence effects in duration perception, we conducted Experiment 3. The results showed that both stimulus and response serial dependence effects could be partially transferred between different modalities in the duration reproduction task, consistent with the findings of Experiment 2. In contrast, in duration bisection task, both effects exhibited modality specificity, aligning with earlier studies. These findings suggest that task paradigm plays a crucial role in modulating the cross-modal effects of serial dependence effects in duration perception. These results provide evidence that both previous stimulus and previous response affect subsequent duration perception, eliciting a repulsive stimulus serial dependence effect and an attractive response serial dependence effect, respectively. This indicates distinct mechanisms for utilizing preceding stimulus and response information in duration processing. Moreover, task paradigm modulates the cross-modal effects of serial dependence in duration perception. A possible explanation is that the reproduction response facilitates the integration of visual and auditory temporal encoding, diminishing categorical distinctions between modalities. Thereby promoting the cross-modal effects of both stimulus and response serial dependence effects in the duration reproduction task. These results imply that the stimulus serial dependence effect in duration perception is not entirely accounted for by low-level perceptual adaptation, but rather involves higher-level cognitive processing; the response serial dependence effect does not simply reflect mechanistic decision inertia, but involves the integration of response strategies.

Key words: serial dependence, task paradigm, stimulus, response, cross-modal