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Updated: Jul 14, 2026
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A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets
Published on: December 5, 2014
The visual attentional blink reflects constraints on temporal visual processing, not just a lapse of visual memory
Sheila Gillard-Crewther1, Murray L Lawson, Katrina Bello
1School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. s.crewther@latrobe.edu.au
Clinical & Experimental Optometry
|May 31, 2007
Summary
The attentional blink (AB) is linked to visual processing speed and memory, not executive functions. Better visual processing speed correlates with a shorter AB, while better visuo-spatial memory correlates with a longer AB.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- The attentional blink (AB) is a temporary deficit in detecting a second target when it appears soon after a first target.
- Current theories debate whether AB is caused by attentional suppression or limitations in visual working memory (VWM).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between attentional blink (AB) performance and measures of visual and auditory memory, processing speed, and executive function (EF).
Main Methods:
- Fifty-one volunteers performed an attentional blink (AB) task.
- Twenty-seven participants completed additional assessments of short-term/working memory, processing speed, and executive functions (EF).
- Correlation and regression analyses were employed.
Main Results:
- A significant correlation was found between AB duration and non-verbal intelligence and processing speed.
- Multiple regression indicated that non-verbal intelligence, letter-number sequencing, visual search, and visuo-spatial recognition memory explained 40% of the variance in AB.
- Better reasoning and letter-number sequencing were linked to shorter AB durations, whereas better visuo-spatial recognition memory was linked to longer AB durations.
Conclusions:
- Visuo-spatial recognition memory's positive association with AB duration may indicate deeper encoding of targets.
- Negative associations between verbal intelligence/processing speed and AB duration suggest AB may measure visual processing speed.
- The absence of a link between AB and executive functions implies AB mechanisms are rooted in early sensory processing and lower-level working memory.
