Auditory word items (484 ms median duration; range 311 to 830 ms) synthesized for a male voice (Lucent Technologies, 2001) were presented binaurally through headphones at a comfortable listening level of about 72 dB SPL. Visual word items (500 ms duration) were foveally presented in black on a light gray background on a CRT computer monitor (0.95° vertical angle; 3.3 – 8.7° horizontal angle). A constant 2.5 s stimulus onset asynchrony and a fixation cross to minimize eye movements was used for both modalities. Participants were instructed to respond to every stimulus as quickly and accurately as possible and that there would be no overlap between blocks for word repetitions. Responses were accepted from 200 ms post-stimulus onset until the next stimulus onset (2500 ms). Response hand assignment (i.e., left/right button press for old/new responses) was systematically alternated across blocks but balanced within participants across modalities.
