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Showing papers on "Attentional blink published in 1999"



Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: For instance, Bavelier et al. as mentioned in this paper reviewed recent research on our ability to understand and remember pictures of objects and scenes, written words, and sentences when the visual stimuli are presented sequentially at rates of up to ten items per second.
Abstract: The investigation of what people understand and remember from rapidly presented sequences of visual stimuli began in the late 1960s. In this book prominent researchers approach the topic from psychological, neuropsychological, and electrophysiological perspectives. Specific issues include RSVP (rapid serial visual presentation), attentional blink, repetition blindness, and scene perception. The contributors review recent research on our ability to comprehend and remember pictures of objects and scenes, written words, and sentences when the visual stimuli are presented sequentially at rates of up to ten items per second. In short, the book is about our remarkably developed abilities to understand and remember the contents of very briefly presented material.Contributors : Daphne Bavelier, Veronika Coltheart, Helene Intraub, Nancy Kanwisher, Steven J. Luck, Nadine Martin, Mary C. Potter, Eleanor M. Saffran, Kimron L. Shapiro, Ewa Wojciulik, Jeremy M. Wolfe, Carol Yin.

193 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is demonstrated by means of an attentional blink task, that the attentional dwell time is prolonged by approximately 30% in dyslexic adults compared with normal readers, suggesting that a target captures attentional resources for considerably longer time in Dyslexics than control subjects.

181 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results demonstrate a cross-modal AB effect produced by a simple two-choice auditory discrimination task and are consistent with the view that at least part of the AB effect has a central, amodal, postperceptual locus.
Abstract: The purpose of the experiments was to demonstrate an attentional-blink (AB) effect in a visual second task following the processing of a simple auditory signal. Subjects monitored a stream of letters presented at the middle of a computer screen using rapid serial visual presentation for the presence of a visual target (an X or a Y). In experimental trials, the visual target followed a pure tone that required an immediate speeded-choice response. When the tone had to be processed, accuracy in the visualencoding task suffered a marked and prolonged deficit that was timelocked to the onset of the tone. When the tone could be ignored or when no tone was presented, no deficit was observed in the visual task. The results demonstrate a cross-modal AB effect produced by a simple two-choice auditory discrimination task. The results are consistent with the view that at least part of the AB effect has a central, amodal, postperceptual locus.

132 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Shapiro et al. as discussed by the authors found that people respond to a target in a rapid serial visual presentation stream, their perception of a subsequent target (T2) is impaired if the intertarget stimulus onset asynchrony is between about 100 and 500 ms.
Abstract: When people respond to a target (T1) in a rapid serial visual presentation stream, their perception of a subsequent target (T2) is impaired if the intertarget stimulus onset asynchrony is between about 100 and 500 ms. Three experiments supported the interference model's (K. L. Shapiro, J. E. Raymond, & K. M. Arnell, 1994) claim that this attentional blink reflects competition for retrieval among multiple items in visual short-term memory. Experiments 1 and 2 revealed that items appearing during the blink are named as T2 on an above-chance proportion of trials when T2 must be identified. Experiment 3 demonstrated that both the size of the blink and sensitivity to T2 reflected the number of items competing for retrieval as T2; such competition, moreover, occurred at a conceptual or categorical level rather than at a purely visual one. The relationship between the interference and alternative models of the attentional blink is discussed.

102 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that Lag 1 sparing does not occur when a spatial shift is required between T1 and T2, suggesting that attention cannot be switched to a new location while the system is busy processing another stimulus.
Abstract: When two targets (T1 and T2) are displayed in rapid succession, accuracy of T2 identification varies as a function of the temporal lag between the targets (attentional blink, AB). In some studies, performance has been found to be most impaired at Lag 1—namely, when T2 followed T1 directly. In other studies, T2 performance at Lag 1 has been virtually unimpaired (Lag 1 sparing). In the present work, we examined how Lag 1 sparing is affected by attentional switches between targets displayed in the same location or in different locations. We found that Lag 1 sparing does not occur when a spatial shift is required between T1 and T2. This suggests that attention cannot be switched to a new location while the system is busy processing another stimulus. The results are explained by a modified version of an attentional gating model (Chun & Potter, 1995; Shapiro & Raymond, 1994).

101 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results suggest that representations of the target are substituted in consciousness by that of the interruption mask when visual attention is preoccupied.
Abstract: When two targets are displayed in rapid visual sequence and masked by trailing patterns, identification accuracy is nearly perfect for the first target but follows a U-shaped pattern over temporal lag for the second target. Three experiments examined the role of visual masking in this attentional blink. Experiment 1 compared integration and interruption masks for both targets. Although either mask was effective in producing the blink when applied to the first target, only the interruption mask was effective when applied to the second target. Experiment 2 showed that integration masking of the second target was ineffective over a wide range of accuracy levels. Combining the two forms of masking in Experiment 3 confirmed the dissociation: A combined mask had only a main effect on accuracy for the first target, whereas it produced a qualitatively different pattern over temporal lag for the second target. These results suggest that representations of the target are substituted in consciousness by that of the interruption mask when visual attention is preoccupied.

91 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Findings suggest a moderate association between AB and the P300 ERP component, which may mirror transient inhibition of cortical networks to facilitate processing of target events.
Abstract: The attentional blink (AB) is a brief impairment of visual processing occurring 200-500 ms after a target in a rapid stream of visual stimuli. At issue here is the relationship between AB and the P300 ERP component, as both are maximal at about 300 ms and have been hypothesised to reflect inhibitory processes. Two experiments revealed that AB and P300 follow a similar time course at the individual and group level, that reducing task difficulty has similar effects on AB and P300 magnitude at the group level, but that there is no relationship between the magnitude of AB and P300 within observers. These findings suggest a moderate association between the two phenomena, which may mirror transient inhibition of cortical networks to facilitate processing of target events.

66 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is tentatively concluded that the U-shaped AB is primarily a function of the interruption of late visual processing produced when the item following the first target occurs at the same location.
Abstract: In a series of four experiments using rapid serial visual presentations of two target letters embedded in numeral distractors, with different numbers of display positions and with or without masking, we show that (1) the nonmonotonic, U-shaped attentional blink (AB) function, which occurs when all items are presented at the same display location, is eliminated in favor of a monotonic function when targets and distractors are presented randomly dispersed over four or nine adjacent positions; (2) the AB monotonicity is maintained with the spatially distributed presentation even when backward masks are used in all possible stimulus positions and when the location of the next item in sequence is predictable; and (3) the If-shaped AB is not due to position-specific forward or backward masking effects occurring at early levels of visual processing. We tentatively conclude that the U-shaped AB is primarily a function of the interruption of late visual processing produced when the item following the first target occurs at the same location. In order for the AB to severely disrupt performance, the item following the first target must be presented at the same location as the target so that it can serve both as a distractor and as a mask interrupting or interfering with subsequent visual processing.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Accuracy of color reports in Task 2 was poor at shorter lags and improved as the lag was lengthened in both experiments, demonstrating an attentional blink for chromatic information.
Abstract: Colored letters were presented by means of rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) Two letters (T1 and T2) were targets that required a speeded (T1) or delayed (T2) response T1 was shown on half of the trials Two tasks were performed in the experimental conditions Task 1 required a discrimination between 2 letters (when T1 was shown) or an indication that T1 was absent In Experiment 1, Task 2 was to detect the presence of a unique color in the RSVP stream (eg, green in a stream of alternating red and gray) In Experiment 2, Task 2 was to report the color of the first colored letter to appear in the RSVP stream The lag between T1 and T2 in the RSVP stream was manipulated Accuracy of color reports in Task 2 was poor at shorter lags and improved as the lag was lengthened in both experiments, demonstrating an attentional blink for chromatic information Theoretical implications of the results are discussed

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results indicated that blink rates and blink durations tended to increase as arousal level got lower in the monotonous vigilance task situations, meanwhile, blink rate and blink amplitudes decreased as a function of negative arousal level in the pre-sleep situation.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between arousal level and blink activity; blink rate, blink amplitude and blink duration. Blink activity was examined under two different tasks in which arousal level was manipulated. One was a vigilance task (Experiment 1) for comparatively high arousal level. The other was a simple counting task in a dark and quiet room (Experiment 2) for extremely lower arousal level. Results indicated that blink rates and blink durations tended to increase as arousal level got lower in the monotonous vigilance task situations, meanwhile, blink rates and blink amplitudes decreased as a function of negative arousal level in the pre-sleep situation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results suggest that the visual image of the item is accepted nto VSTM and processed for target candidature, and no difference was observed in the AB duration for global or local probe detection between control and crystallized trials.
Abstract: Purpose: The refractory period during which detection or identification of a probe is degraded, following the successful visual identification of a target, is referred to as the attentional blink (AB). Previous work in this laboratory using global/local letter forms has shown that the degree of complexity of information influences the length of time between successful visual identifications, as does the attentional modality required of the subject. In the standard rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task, a gap following the first target is reported to destroy the AB. The current study examines the effect on the AB duration of inserting a gap in the stream of local orthographic information while not interrupting the stream of global information. It was hypothesized that masking of the local elements of the item immediately following the target (the + 1 item) would lead to a decreased AB duration for local identification. Methods: Twenty-one adult participants, experienced in the experimental paradigm, viewed sequences of compound letter stimuli and were required to identify a global or local red letter (target) and detect the presence of a global or local X (probe) in the sequence following. Results: In one-half of the trials the local letter identity of the +1 global/local form was obscured, leaving only a global form. Neither the attentional condition nor local +1 masking significantly influenced the slope of recovery from the AB. Furthermore, no difference was observed in the AB duration for global or local probe detection between control and crystallized trials. Conclusions: The results suggest that the visual image of the item is accepted into VSTM and processed for target candidature.