Showing papers on "Attentional blink published in 1997"
TL;DR: Investigations of the AB argue in favour of the view that attention may be thought of as a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for enabling consciousness, by proposing a unifying theory.
591 citations
TL;DR: The results demonstrate for the first time that visual neglect is a disorder of directing attention in time, as well as space.
Abstract: When we identify a visual object such as a word or letter, our ability to detect a second object is impaired if it appears within 400ms of the first. This phenomenon has been termed the attentional blink or dwell time and is a measure of our ability to allocate attention over time (temporal attention). Patients with unilateral visual neglect are unaware of people or objects contralateral to their lesion. They are considered to have a disorder of attending to a particular location in space (spatial attention). Here we examined the non-spatial temporal dynamics of attention in patients, using a protocol for assessing the attentional blink. Neglect patients with right parietal, frontal or basal ganglia strokes had an abnormally severe and protracted attentional blink When they identified a letter, their awareness of a subsequent letter was significantly diminished for a length of time that was three times as long as for individuals without neglect. Our results demonstrate for the first time that visual neglect is a disorder of directing attention in time, as well as space.
384 citations
TL;DR: The conclusions drawn are that individuals do not experience an AB for their own names but do for either other names or nouns.
Abstract: Four experiments were carried out to investigate an early- versus late-selection explanation for the attentional blink (AB). In both Experiments 1 and 2, 3 groups of participants were required to identify a noun (Experiment 1) or a name (Experiment 2) target (experimental conditions) and then to identify the presence or absence of a 2nd target (probe), which was their own name, another name, or a specified noun from among a noun distractor stream (Experiment 1) or a name distractor stream (Experiment 2). The conclusions drawn are that individuals do not experience an AB for their own names but do for either other names or nouns. In Experiments 3 and 4, either the participant's own name or another name was presented, as the target and as the item that immediately followed the target, respectively. An AB effect was revealed in both experimental conditions. The results of these experiments are interpreted as support for a late-selection interference account of the AB.
322 citations
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that attentional gating within the blink operates only after substantial stimulus processing has already taken place, and is discussed in terms of two forms of visual representation, namely, types and tokens.
Abstract: When people must detect several targets in a very rapid stream of successive visual events at the same location, detection of an initial target induces misses for subsequent targets within a brief period. This attentional blink may serve to prevent interruption of ongoing target processing by temporarily suppressing vision for subsequent stimuli. We examined the level at which the internal blink operates, specifically, whether it prevents early visual processing or prevents quite substantial processing from reaching awareness. Our data support the latter view. We observed priming from missed letter targets, benefiting detection of a subsequent target with the same identity but a different case. In a second study, we observed semantic priming from word targets that were missed during the blink. These results demonstrate that attentional gating within the blink operates only after substantial stimulus processing has already taken place. The results are discussed in terms of two forms of visual representatio...
235 citations
192 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between attentional blink and repetition blindness in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) and showed that correct identification of a target interferes with processing of a second target appearing within half a second.
Abstract: The visual system is generally limited in the number of items it can process at any given time. Performance decrements can be observed for reporting multiple targets presented in a sequence. Using a technique where targets are embedded among distractors in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), previous studies have shown that correct identification of a target (T1) interferes with processing of a second target (T2) appearing within half a second. This effect on T2 has been called an attentional blink (AB; Raymond, Shapiro, & Amell, 1992). A similar deficit has been shown for a repeated stimulus appearing in RSVP, an effect called repetition blindness (RB; Kanwisher, 1987). The focus of this article is on examining the relationship between the two deficits. The AB occurs when two different targets are presented
186 citations
TL;DR: Although target priming and distractor priming both survived the AB, the 2 forms of priming appeared to have different bases and priming by T1 was larger, modulated by backward associative strength, and longer lasting.
Abstract: In 5 experiments, 432 college students viewed lists of words containing 2 targets (Target 1 [T1] and Target 2 [T2]) presented by rapid serial visual presentation at 10 words per second Identification of T1 caused a 500-ms impairment in the identification of T2 (the attentional blink [AB]) Improved recall of T2 was observed throughout the time course of the AB when T2 was a strong associate of either T1 or a priming distractor (PD) When participants ignored T1, the AB was eliminated, but the amount of priming was not affected Priming of T2 by PD was temporary (100-200 ms after the onset of PD) Although target priming and distractor priming both survived the AB, the 2 forms of priming appeared to have different bases In contrast to priming by PD, priming by T1 was larger, modulated by backward associative strength, and longer lasting Priming and the AB are hypothesized to result from on-line attentional processes, but recall from RSVP lists is also influenced by off-line memory processes
152 citations
TL;DR: It is shown here that shifts in intrusion error patterns can be produced by the manipulation of attention alone, and the present results support a two-stage model of RSVP target processing.
Abstract: When one searches for a target among nontargets appearing in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), one’s errors in performance typically involve the misreporting of neighboring nontargets. Such illusory conjunctions or intrusion errors are distributed differently around the target, depending on task or stimulus variables. It is shown here that shifts in intrusion error patterns can be produced by the manipulation of attention alone. In a dual-task paradigm, the magnitude and distribution of intrusion errors changed systematically as a function of available attentional resources. Intrusion errors in RSVP tasks reflect internal capacity limitations for binding independent features. The present results support a two-stage model of RSVP target processing.
128 citations
TL;DR: The attentional blink was found when the +1 item acted as a mask of the target, even though the +2 item and the probe were visually dissimilar, which supports the two-stage model of the attentional blinking.
Abstract: When subjects are asked to identify a letter target embedded in a rapid serial visual presentation stream, the detection of a subsequent letter probe is briefly impaired. This transient deficit in probe detection, termed the “attentional blink,” depends on the type of item that immediately follows the letter target (Raymond, Shapiro, & Arnell, 1995). Two models have been proposed to account for this effect. The interference model of the attentional blink predicts that visual similarity between the probe and item immediately following the target (+1 item) causes the attentional blink, whereas the two-stage model is based on the notion that increased time needed to process the target letter causes the attentional blink. In order to test between these two possibilities, the masking properties of the +1 item and its similarity to the probe were varied. We found the attentional blink when the +1 item acted as a mask of the target, even though the +1 item and the probe were visually dissimilar. This pattern of results supports the two-stage model of the attentional blink.
79 citations
TL;DR: Analyses of errors indicated that the 2nd target is frequently replaced or corrupted by the following distractor during the blink, which appears to result from both attentional and mnemonic processes.
Abstract: Observers watched for 1 or 2 colored words as targets presented in lists of distractor strings (10 items/s). Identification of 1 target (T1) temporarily reduced the accuracy of reporting a 2nd target (T2). This attentional blink (AB) effect was most pronounced when T1 and T2 occurred close together in time. Use of recognition tests (instead of recall) improved performance but did not eliminate the AB effect. The AB effect was found with both word and nonword distractors, a smaller AB effect was found with consonant string distractors, and the AB effect was substantially attenuated with strings of unfamiliar characters (a false font). Analyses of errors indicated that the 2nd target is frequently replaced or corrupted by the following distractor during the blink. The AB effect appears to result from both attentional and mnemonic processes.
52 citations
TL;DR: The present results support the notion that attention and emotion can affect blink startle modulation during foreground stimuli.
Abstract: Emotional accounts of startle modulation predict that startle is facilitated if elicited during aversive foreground stimuli. Attentional accounts hold that startle is enhanced if startle-eliciting stimulus and foreground stimulus are in the same modality. Visual and acoustic foreground stimuli and acoustic startle probes were employed in aversive differential conditioning and in a stimulus discrimination task. Differential conditioning was evident in electrodermal responses and blink latency shortening in both modalities, but effects on magnitude facilitation were found only for visual stimuli. In the discrimination task, skin conductance responses, blink latency shortening, and blink magnitude facilitation were larger during to-be-attended stimuli regardless of stimulus modality. The present results support the notion that attention and emotion can affect blink startle modulation during foreground stimuli.
TL;DR: The observed category effect suggests that the probe detection deficit in RSVP may map a time course for spreading intra-category inhibition following temporal target selection and is argued that the deficit is attentionally-based rather than perceptually-based.
Abstract: When subjects identify a target during rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), they show a reduced ability to detect a subsequent probe stimulus relative to when they ignore the target. The present study demonstrated an effect of target/probe categorical relation upon this probe detection deficit (attentional blink). Experiment 1 used letters for both target and probe, replicating the general methods and results of Raymond, Shapiro, and Arnell (1992). Experiment 2 varied target/probe categorical relation via instructional set: The target was a letter; for some subjects, the probe stimulus o was referred to as the letter "oh," whereas for other subjects it was referred to as the number "zero." Treating o as a number attenuated the probe detection deficit. This different-category attenuation was confirmed in Experiment 3 where the target was a letter and the probe was a number. The observed category effect suggests that the probe detection deficit in RSVP may map a time course for spreading intra-category inhibition following temporal target selection. In rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), pictures, words, letters, or other visual stimuli are presented in the same spatial location at a rate of 6-20 items per second (e.g., Broadbent & Broadbent, 1987; Intraub, 1985; Kanwisher, 1987; Lawrence, 1971; Reeve & Sperling, 1986; Weichselgartner & Sperling, 1987). By asking subjects to monitor the RSVP stream for target items, it is possible to examine the temporal limits governing visual and attentional processing independently of saccadic eye movements. In the context of a dual-task RSVP paradigm, Raymond, Shapiro and Arnell (1992, see also Shapiro, Raymond, & Arnell, 1994) presented subjects with a white target letter in a stream of black letters. This target could be followed at various intervals by a black probe x. In an experimental condition, subjects identified the target and detected the presence/absence of the probe; in a control condition, subjects ignored the target and detected only the presence/absence of the probe. Relative to the control condition, when subjects directed attention to the target, they showed a decrement in the detection of probes that occurred 100-450 ms post-target (see also, Broadbent & Broadbent, 1987; Reeves & Sperling, 1986; Weichselgartner & Sperling, 1987). Because this probe deficit did not occur when subjects ignored the target (control condition), Raymond et al. (1992) argued that the deficit is attentionally-based rather than perceptually-based (hence, their use of the term attentional blink). Two boundary conditions determine whether the probe detection deficit is observed. First, the deficit occurs only when the target is followed immediately by a patterned stimulus: When the first post-target item is replaced by a temporal gap, no deficit occurs; however, the elimination of the deficit is not simply a result of reduced perceptual load because the effect is not attenuated by the imposition of a temporal gap at any other post-target interval (Raymond et al., 1992). Second, the deficit is observed whether the target task requires detection or discrimination and regardless of the difficulty of target selection (Shapiro et al., 1994; for a review of the literature and results see Shapiro & Raymond, 1994), yet it does not occur if the target is defined by the absence of a stimulus (i.e., a temporal gap; Shapiro et al., 1994). On this basis, Shapiro et al. (1994) suggested that a probe detection deficit will occur any time attention is directed to a patterned target that is followed immediately by a patterned post-target stimulus. Ward, Duncan, and Shapiro (1992) marshalled support for this view with the demonstration that a probe detection deficit occurs even in the absence of an RSVP stream: Presentation of only a masked target and masked probe will result in a probe detection deficit when attention is directed to the target. On the basis of these observations, Shapiro et al. …
TL;DR: Two new papers have studied one facet of attention, known as ‘attentional blink’, whereby you cannot attend to two stimuli if they occur within a certain time of each other.
Abstract: We often use the term ‘attention’ colloquially, as in to “pay attention”. But attention need not necessarily be a singular entity - while reading this page you could attend to another visual stimulus without moving your eyes. Two new papers have studied one facet of attention, known as ‘attentional blink’, whereby you cannot attend to two stimuli if they occur within a certain time of each other. They show that attentional blink makes it impossible to perform some easy visual tasks that were thought not to require attention.
TL;DR: Contrary to predictions derived from an attentional account, blink facilitation was larger during conditional stimuli that preceded shock than during those that preceded tones.
Abstract: Attentional accounts of blink facilitation during Pavlovian conditioning predict enhanced reflexes if reflex and unconditional stimuli (US) are from the same modality. Emotional accounts emphasize the importance of US intensity. In Experiment 1, we crossed US modality (tone vs. shock) and intensity in a 2 x 2 between-subjects design. US intensity but not US modality affected blink facilitation. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that the results from Experiment 1 were not due to the motor task requirements employed. In Experiment 3, we used a within-subjects design to investigate the effects of US modality and intensity. Contrary to predictions derived from an attentional account, blink facilitation was larger during conditional stimuli that preceded shock than during those that preceded tones. The present results are not consistent with an attentional account of blink facilitation during Pavlovian conditioning in humans.
TL;DR: In this paper, pure tones were used in place of compressed speech stimuli to find an auditory attentional blink (AB) reflecting central processing limitations, and participants detected the loud target and then detected whether the stream contained a second loud tone.
Abstract: When a target in a rapid (11 items/s) series of visual items is attended, the perception of a subsequent probe is impaired if the probe occurs within 500 ms. If this attentional blink (AB) reflects central processing limitations, then an AB should be found using auditory stimuli. Existing investigations, however, have used compressed speech stimuli, namely spoken letter or digit names. Because these stimuli are susceptible to visual recoding, the possibility that the AB reflects a vision‐specific bottleneck cannot yet be dismissed. To redress this problem, pure tones were used in place of compressed speech stimuli. Participants heard rapid auditory streams comprising 20 tones ranging in frequency from 1000 to 2500 Hz. All tones were 50 dB except the target and probe, which were more intense on independent random halves of the trials. Participants detected the loud target and then detected whether the stream contained a second loud tone. Preliminary results show an auditory AB. The AB appears to reflect ge...
TL;DR: The results suggest that a spontaneous blink tends to occur immediately after the completion of detecting a peripherally presented stimulus.
Abstract: A psychological experiment on inferring presence or absence of attention to individual visual stimuli presented in a brief exposure duration is performed. The experiment is based on both gaze point and the timing of a spontaneous blink. Each stimulus was randomly presented on either the left or right side of a display. Subjects are requested to appropriately allocate attention to both sides of the display. Although the presence of attention to only about 50% of all stimuli based on gaze point is inferred, the presence of attention to over 80% of all stimuli can be inferred by adding the blink timing together as a physiological measure. These results suggest that a spontaneous blink tends to occur immediately after the completion of detecting a peripherally presented stimulus.