Showing papers on "Attentional blink published in 1985"
TL;DR: Eyeblink performance parameters were investigated in subjects engaged in a series of duration discrimination tasks differing in modality and presentation schedule, finding that visual tasks were associated with slower blink rates and shorter blink durations than auditory tasks.
Abstract: Eyeblink performance parameters were investigated in subjects engaged in a series of duration discrimination tasks differing in modality (visual vs. auditory) and presentation schedule (fixed vs. variable). Visual tasks were associated with slower blink rates and shorter blink durations than auditory tasks. Sensitivity measures suggested that this difference might be due, in part, to the greater difficulty of the visual tasks. Blink latency declined within and across tasks and was longer for target stimuli which were followed by responses. Since the target stimuli were the short duration stimuli, the latter effect could be a compound of two opposing effects. The first is related to the response, which tends to delay the blink on target trials, while the second, related to decision processes, would tend to increase latencies on nontarget trials. Schedule of stimulus presentation did not affect dependent measures as predicted. RT was unaffected by either of the experimental variables.
68 citations
TL;DR: The effects suggest that blinks occur when attentional processes wane, and that blink latencies were shorter in the Task group than in the No-Task group.
Abstract: This experiment evaluated the association between blinking and cognitive activities Subjects received 200 and 400 ms tones (1 KHz) at fixed intervals in a duration discrimination paradigm One group (“Task”) was instructed to respond to the stimuli on the basis of duration and another (“No-Task”) was instructed to ignore the stimuli Blink activity (latency, rate, duration) and performance (RT, hit and false alarm rates) measures were evaluated
A first analysis (Task subjects only) indicated that stimulus duration had significant effects on RT and blink latency; both were generally longer following the 400-ms than the 200-ms stimuli In a second analysis, involving Task and No-Task subjects, blink latencies were shorter in the Task group Blink and eyelid closure durations increased over the task period in both analyses These effects suggest that blinks occur when attentional processes wane
51 citations
TL;DR: In adults, startle blink to the WI probes was increasingly attenuated as the GO signal approached, suggesting a selective pattern of attentional allocation, and in contrast, blink amplitude increased linearly across probe positions in children, implying that preparatory attention was allocated to a wider range of sensory input.
Abstract: Selective attention, often considered less efficient in young children, was examined in adults and 5-yr-olds using a new, startle-probe technique. To investigate the allocation of preparatory attention at early stages of processing, we examined the modification of the startle blink reflex to irrelevant acoustic probes presented within the warning interval (WI) of a simple reaction time task. Attention was directed away from the acoustic probes and toward a vibrotactile GO signal during the 6-s WI. Heart rate decelerated prior to the GO signal in both children and adults, implying increased attention. The two groups showed opposite patterns of blink modification, however. In adults, startle blink to the WI probes was increasingly attenuated as the GO signal approached, suggesting a selective pattern of attentional allocation. In contrast, blink amplitude increased linearly across probe positions in children, implying that preparatory attention was allocated to a wider range of sensory input.
36 citations