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Related Experiment Videos

Top-down controlled, delayed selection in the attentional blink.

Mark R Nieuwenstein1

  • 1Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA. nieuwe@mit.edu

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance
|July 19, 2006
PubMed
Summary

The attentional blink (AB) is reduced when a distractor shares features with the second target. This effect depends on the observer's attentional set, showing a contingent, delayed selection process.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Visual attention research

Background:

  • The attentional blink (AB) is a phenomenon where the second of two targets (T1, T2) is missed if presented within 500ms.
  • Previous research indicated feature-based distractors preceding T2 can reduce the AB.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether the feature-based distractor effect on the attentional blink is contingent on attentional set.
  • To examine the role of attentional set in modulating the effectiveness of feature-based cuing in the AB paradigm.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) to present visual targets (T1 and T2).
  • Manipulated the feature overlap between a distractor and T2.
  • Varied the attentional set by altering the task requirements (e.g., target features to attend to).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Introduced an intervening distractor between the cue and T2 to test robustness.

    • Main Results:

    • The AB-reducing effect of a feature-matching distractor was contingent on the observer's attentional set.
    • A distractor sharing a feature with T2 was effective only when that feature was relevant to the task.
    • Cuing effects remained robust even with an intervening distractor between the cue and T2.

    Conclusions:

    • Findings support a contingent, delayed selection account of the attentional blink.
    • Attentional set plays a crucial role in determining the efficacy of feature-based attentional guidance.
    • This research clarifies the mechanisms underlying attentional selection and its impact on visual awareness.