نبذة مختصرة : Two experiments explored hemispheric asymmetries in auditory distraction by manipulating the spatial location of presentation of to-be-ignored sound. Previous research revealed a left-ear disadvantage for the presentation of changing-state sequences during short-term serial recall (Hadlington et al., 2004; 2006), but did not provide a direct measure of the changing-state effect as no steady-state condition was incorporated. Experiment 1 addressed this by comparing changing-state with steady-state sequences in a visual-verbal serial recall task, and confirmed that the additional disruption produced via left-ear presentation stemmed from the acoustically varying nature of the sound. This left-ear disadvantage for the changing-state effect highlights right hemisphere dominance for processing acoustic variation within unattended sound. Using the same stimuli, Experiment 2 replicated these results and gained insight into participant’s metacognitive monitoring of the disruptive potential of auditory distractors. Participants prospectively rated the extent to which they would be distracted by steady-state and changing-state sequences presented to the left ear, right ear, or both ears, and judged whether the sounds had a beneficial or detrimental effect on their performance after each trial. Participants showed both prospective and retrospective awareness that changing-state sequences were more disruptive than steady-state sequences (cf. Bell et al., 2021). However, participants did not expect disruption to vary by auditory location and were unaware that changing-state sequences were more disruptive when presented to the left ear, relative to the right ear or both ears. Therefore, individuals have metacognitive awareness of the greater disruptive impact of changing- over steady-state sound, but not the accompanying left-ear disadvantage. Implications of these findings are considered in the context of theoretical accounts of auditory distraction.
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