Measuring individual differences in the speed of attention using the distractor intrusion task

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Individual differences in attention speed are crucial for real-world navigation.
• Traditional reaction time measures in visual search tasks lack reliability and are influenced by non-attentional factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce and validate the rate of post-target distractor intrusions (DI) in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) as a reliable measure of attention speed.
• Assess the reliability and validity of DI rates compared to existing measures.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm where targets are briefly presented among distractors.
• Measured post-target distractor intrusions (DI), defined as reporting a distractor instead of the target.
• Conducted three studies to evaluate DI rates' internal consistency and test-retest reliability.

Main Results:

• DI rates demonstrated high internal consistency and test-retest reliability over one year (> .90).
• The task administration required only approximately 5 minutes.
• DI rates correlated with attention speed measures but not with attentional control, reading speed, or attentional blink.

Conclusions:

• The rate of distractor intrusions (DI) in RSVP is a reliable and valid measure of individual differences in attention speed.
• DI rates offer a more consistent and less contaminated alternative to reaction time measures.
• The study provides resources for researchers to implement the DI experiment for future studies on attention speed.