Delayed Masking and the Auditory Attentional Blink

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 182-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Vachon ◽  
Sébastien Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Auditory Event ◽  
Rapid Sequence

The attentional blink (AB) corresponds to a transient deficit in reporting the second (T2) of two targets embedded in a rapid sequence of distractors. The retrieval competition ( Shapiro, Raymond & Arnell, 1994 ) and bottleneck models ( Chun & Potter, 1995 ; Jolicœur, 1998 ) predict the attenuation of the deficit with the extension of the delay between T2 and its mask. This prediction was tested using auditory sequences of nonverbal stimuli in which the T2-mask interval was systematically varied. The magnitude of the auditory AB diminished with the lengthening of the interval from 50 to 150 ms while no time-locked deficit was observed with the longest (350 ms) and the shortest (10 ms) intervals. These results suggest that presenting a mask after T2 is not sufficient to produce an auditory AB: The mask must be perceivable as an auditory event distinct from the target and occur before T2 consolidation. The present study also provides evidence that as in vision, AB deficits take place in the auditory domain when T2 is masked by interruption but not by integration. Our findings are best accounted for in terms of bottlenecked processing limitations.

scholarly journals EXPRESS: T1 difficulty does not modulate the magnitude of the attentional blink

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110547
Author(s):  
Thomas Spalek ◽  
Hayley Lagroix ◽  
Vincent Di Lollo
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Visual System ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Refractory Period ◽  
Dependent Measure ◽  
Identification Accuracy ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Response Scale ◽  
Scale Removal ◽  
Rapid Sequence

When the visual system is busy processing one stimulus it has problems processing a subsequent stimulus if it arrives soon after the first. Laboratory studies of this second-stimulus impairment – known as ¬attentional blink (AB) – have employed two targets (T1, T2) presented in rapid sequence, and have found identification accuracy to be nearly perfect for T1 but impaired for T2. It is commonly believed that the magnitude of the AB is related directly to the difficulty of T1: the greater the T1 difficulty, the larger the AB. A survey of the experimental literature disconfirms that belief showing it to have arisen from artificial constraints imposed by the 100% limit of the response scale. Removal of that constraint, either by using reaction time (RT) instead of accuracy as the dependent measure, or in experiments in which the functions of T2 accuracy over lags do not converge to the limit of the response scale, reveals parallel functions for the easy-T1 and the hard-T1 conditions, consistent with the idea that T1 difficulty does not modulate AB magnitude. This finding is problematic for all but the Boost-and-Bounce and the Locus Coeruleus-Norepinephrine theories in which T1 acts merely as a trigger for an eventual refractory period that leads to the failure to process T2, rendering T1 difficulty and its relationship to the AB an irrelevant consideration.

scholarly journals Dopamine and the Management of Attentional Resources: Genetic Markers of Striatal D2 Dopamine Predict Individual Differences in the Attentional Blink

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 3576-3585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenza S. Colzato ◽  
Heleen A. Slagter ◽  
Mischa de Rover ◽  
Bernhard Hommel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
D2 Receptors ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Rapid Sequence ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Dopaminergic Pathways

The attentional blink (AB)—a deficit in reporting the second of two target stimuli presented in close succession in a rapid sequence of distracters—has been related to processing limitations in working memory. Given that dopamine (DA) plays a crucial role working memory, the present study tested whether individual differences in the size of the AB can be predicted by differences in genetic predisposition related to the efficiency of dopaminergic pathways. Polymorphisms related to mesocortical and nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathways were considered, as well as polymorphisms related to norepinephrine (NE), a transmitter system that has also been suspected to play a role in the AB. In a sample of 157 healthy adults, we studied the dependency of the individual magnitude of the AB and the C957T polymorphism at the DRD2 gene (associated with striatal DA/D2 receptors), the DARPP32 polymorphism (associated with striatal DA/D1), the COMT Val158Met polymorphism (associated with frontal DA), DBH444 g/a and DBH5′-ins/del polymorphisms (polymorphisms strongly correlated with DA beta hydroxylase, the enzyme catalyzing the DA–NE conversion) and NET T-182C (a polymorphism related to the NE transporter). DRD2 C957T T/T homozygotes showed a significantly smaller AB, whereas polymorphisms associated with frontal DA and NE were unrelated to performance. This outcome pattern suggests a crucial role of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway and of nigrostriatal D2 receptors, in particular, in the management of attentional resources.

A Quick Visual Mind Can be a Slow Auditory Mind

2009 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sander Martens ◽  
Addie Johnson ◽  
Martje Bolle ◽  
Jelmer Borst
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Conscious Level ◽  
Visual Targets ◽  
Concurrent Information

The human mind is severely limited in processing concurrent information at a conscious level of awareness. These temporal restrictions are clearly reflected in the attentional blink (AB), a deficit in reporting the second of two targets when it occurs 200–500 ms after the first. However, we recently reported that some individuals do not show a visual AB, and presented psychophysiological evidence that target processing differs between “blinkers” and “nonblinkers”. Here, we present evidence that visual nonblinkers do show an auditory AB, which suggests that a major source of attentional restriction as reflected in the AB is likely to be modality-specific. In Experiment 3, we show that when the difficulty in identifying visual targets is increased, nonblinkers continue to show little or no visual AB, suggesting that the presence of an AB in the auditory but not in the visual modality is not due to a difference in task difficulty.

Parameterizing the attentional blink effect.

2006 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Cousineau ◽  
Dominic Charbonneau ◽  
Pierre Jolicoeur
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Attentional Blink Effect

How Does Memory Search Interact With the Attentional Blink?

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trafton Drew ◽  
Ashley M. Sherman ◽  
Jeremy M. Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Memory Search
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