In Brief:
Actively attending to auditory stimuli while passively viewing a visual distracter alters P300 scalp distribution, decreases amplitude, and in-creases latency. The emotional content of a distracting stimulus also modulates P300 amplitude. Other aspects, such as complexity or type of attention given to the visual distracter have not been explored. This study assessed the effects of continuous, visual distracters that change in complexity on P300 responses generated by an auditory oddball paradigm. Results indicated biological relevance of the distracter did not modulate the overall response; however, increases in complexity and changes in type of attention did.
