DOI: 10.7280/d1wd5d
title: Data from: The rhythm of attention: perceptual modulation via rhythmic entrainment is lowpass and attention mediated

description: Modulation patterns are known to carry critical predictive cues to signal
 detection in complex acoustic environments.  The current study
 investigated the persistence of masker modulation effects on
 post-modulation detection of probe signals.  Hickok et al. (2015)
 demonstrated that thresholds for a tone pulse in stationary noise follow a
 predictable periodic pattern when preceded by a 3-Hz amplitude modulated
 masker.  They found entrainment of detection patterns to the
 modulation envelope lasting for approximately 2 cycles after termination
 of modulation.  The current study extends these results to a wide
 range of modulation rates by mapping the temporal modulation transfer
 function for persistent modulatory effects.  We found significant
 entrainment to modulation rates of 2 and 3 Hz, a weaker effect at 5 Hz,
 and no entrainment at higher rates (8 to 32 Hz).  The effect
 seems critically dependent on attentional mechanisms, requiring temporal
 and level uncertainty of the probe signal.  Our findings suggest
 that the persistence of modulatory effects on signal detection is lowpass
 in nature and attention based.
description: Data were collected using Matlab software on a Sony Lenovo T400
 computer in a steel-walled acoustically isolated chamber (Industrial
 Acoustics Company).  On each trial of a single-interval two-alternative
 forced-choice task, the subject was required to indicate (via a key press)
 whether a tonal signal was present during the unmodulated segment of a
 masking noise. Feedback was provided after each trial.  The data made
 available here is the raw data in a .mat file which includes results of
 every single trials of every run by every subject.  The files include the
 raw data without any postprocessing.   
description: The entire raw dataset for this paper is made available here.  
 Folders named “Fig 2” and “Fig 3” contain data used to generate figures 2
 and 3 in the published manuscript. The Excel file
 “Subject list” provides a list of participants that shows which subject
 (S1 to S9) participated in which condition of each experiment.
 Each data file in each folder is in .mat format which can be
 accessed using Matlab software.  Each file contains an nx5 data format (n
 rows by 5 columns).  Each row represents one trial of the experiment for
 the condition identified by the file name.  For example, for Figure 2, the
 file named S1perdata2hz contains data from subject S1 in the periodicity
 (per) experiment at the 2-Hz noise modulation condition.  This particular
 file contains 3000 rows (trials) by 5 columns.  The
 columns represent: Column 1: Signal (tone pulse) onset
 delay in milliseconds relative to the offset of the noise modulation. The
 zero point is arbitrarily set at the expected dip of the first cycle (in
 the steady state part of the noise) after termination of noise
 modulation.   The smallest negative number (delay) represents the onset of
 the signal synchronized with the offset of the noise
 modulation.  Column 2:  Scalar weight by which the
 signal (tone) was multiplied.  There were 5 levels which spanned a range
 of approximately 12 dB.  Data from some initial pilot runs at other test
 levels are also included in some data files, but not used in generating
 figures. Column 3:  Designates whether a signal was
 present on that given trials (single interval forced choice). 1= signal
 present, 0= no signal present. Column 4: Subject’s
 response (1 = yes there was a signal presented on this trial, 0 = no there
 wasn’t a signal presented on this trial). Column 5: Was
 the subject’s response correct on this trial (i.e., whether columns 3 and
 4 matched).  1= correct, 0= incorrect.