Direct replication of “Temporary suppression of visual processing in RSVP task: an attentional blink?” (Experiment 2)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Grassi ◽  
Enrico Toffalini ◽  
David Giofrè
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Original Experiment ◽  
Original Phenomenon ◽  
Comparison Of The Results ◽  
New Research ◽  
Replication Of Experiments ◽  
Lag 1 Sparing

(Monday 20/07/2020. The paper is currently "accepted for publication" in Behavior Research Methods). In order to improve the trustworthiness of our science, several new research practices have been suggested, including preregistration, large statistical power, availability of research data and materials, new statistical standards, and the replication of experiments. We conducted a replication project on an original phenomenon that was discovered more than 25 years ago, namely the attentional blink (Raymond, Shapiro, & Arnell, 1992), which has been conceptually replicated hundreds of times with major variations. Here, we ran two identical experiments, adopting the new practices and closely reproducing the original experiment. The two experiments were run by different research groups in different countries and laboratories with different participants. Experiment 1 shared remarkable similarities (in magnitude and duration of the effect) with the original study, but also some differences (the overall accuracy of participants, the timing of the effect, and lag-1 sparing). Experts interviewed to evaluate our results stressed the similarities rather than the differences. Experiment 2 replicated nearly identically the results observed in Experiment 1. These findings show that the adoption of new research practices improves the replicability of experimental research and opens the door for a quantitative and direct comparison of the results collected across different laboratories and countries.

scholarly journals Alpha Is Not the False Alarm Rate: An Activity to Dispel a Common Statistical Misconception

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Burt Thompson
Keyword(s):  
False Alarm ◽  
False Alarm Rate ◽  
Research Finding ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Prior Probability ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Statistical Test ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Web App ◽  
New Research

When a psychologist announces a new research finding, it is often based on a rejected null hypothesis. However, if that hypothesis is true, the claim is a false alarm. Many students mistakenly believe that the probability of committing a false alarm equals alpha, the criterion for statistical significance, which is typically set at 5%. Instructors should take specific steps to dispel this belief because it leads students to misinterpret statistical test results and it reinforces the more general misconception that results can be interpreted in isolation, without reference to theory or prior research. In the present study, students worked with a web app that shows how the false alarm rate is a function of the prior probability of an effect, statistical power, and alpha. Quiz scores suggest the activity helps correct the misconception, which can improve how students conduct and interpret research.

Priming from the Attentional Blink: A Failure to Extract Visual Tokens but Not Visual Types

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimron Shapiro ◽  
Jon Driver ◽  
Robert Ward ◽  
Robyn E. Sorensen
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Semantic Priming ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Representation ◽  
Stimulus Processing ◽  
Visual Events ◽  
Early Visual Processing ◽  
Location Detection ◽  
Subsequent Target ◽  
Initial Target

When people must detect several targets in a very rapid stream of successive visual events at the same location, detection of an initial target induces misses for subsequent targets within a brief period. This attentional blink may serve to prevent interruption of ongoing target processing by temporarily suppressing vision for subsequent stimuli. We examined the level at which the internal blink operates, specifically, whether it prevents early visual processing or prevents quite substantial processing from reaching awareness. Our data support the latter view. We observed priming from missed letter targets, benefiting detection of a subsequent target with the same identity but a different case. In a second study, we observed semantic priming from word targets that were missed during the blink. These results demonstrate that attentional gating within the blink operates only after substantial stimulus processing has already taken place. The results are discussed in terms of two forms of visual representation, namely, types and tokens.

Interruption of Late Visual Processing Causes an Attentional Blink

Perception ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 134-134
Author(s):  
A Ehrenstein ◽  
B G Breitmeyer ◽  
K K Pritchard ◽  
M Hiscock ◽  
J Crisan
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Masking Effect ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Spatially Distributed ◽  
Display Location

When the task is to detect two letter targets in a stream of non-letter (digit) distractors in rapid serial visual presentation, an attentional blink (AB; ie a deficit in the detection of a second target when it follows the first by approximately 100 – 500 ms) is often found to occur. In a series of four experiments with different numbers of display positions, with or without masking, we show that: (1) the AB, which occurs when all items are presented at the same display location, is reduced when targets and distractors are presented randomly dispersed over 4 or 9 adjacent locations; (2) the AB is reduced with the spatially distributed presentation even when backward masks are used in all possible stimulus locations and when the location of the next item in the sequence is predictable; (3) the AB is not due to either a location-specific forward or backward masking effect occurring at early levels in visual processing. We conclude that the 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. It seems that, in order for the AB to occur, the item following the first target must be presented at the same location as that target so that it can serve both as a distractor and as a mask interrupting or interfering with late visual processing.

Modality-specific auditory and visual temporal processing deficits

2002 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvador Soto-Faraco ◽  
Charles Spence
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Attentional Selection ◽  
The Other ◽  
Repetition Blindness ◽  
Presentation Procedure ◽  
Selection Stage ◽  
Lag 1 Sparing

We studied the attentional blink (AB) and the repetition blindness (RB) effects using an audio-visual presentation procedure designed to overcome several potential methodological confounds in previous cross-modal research. In Experiment 1, two target digits were embedded amongst letter distractors in two concurrent streams (one visual and the other auditory) presented from the same spatial location. Targets appeared in either modality unpredictably at different temporal lags, and the participants’ task was to recall the digits at the end of the trial. We evaluated both AB and RB for pairs of targets presented in either the same or different modalities. Under these conditions both AB and RB were observed in vision, AB but not RB was observed in audition, and there was no evidence of AB or RB cross-modally from audition to vision or vice versa. In Experiment 2, we further investigated the AB by including Lag 1 items and observed Lag 1 sparing, thus ruling out the possibility that the observed effects were due to perceptual and/or conceptual masking. Our results support a distinction between a modality-specific interference at the attentional selection stage and a modality-independent interference at later processing stages. They also provide a new dissociation between the AB and RB.

scholarly journals Attention “Blinks” Differently for Plants and Animals

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Balas ◽  
Jennifer L. Momsen
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Visual System ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Refractory Period ◽  
Visual Cognition ◽  
Image Sequences ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Physiological Constraints ◽  
Attentional Resources

Plants, to many, are simply not as interesting as animals. Students typically prefer to study animals rather than plants and recall plants more poorly, and plants are underrepresented in the classroom. The observed paucity of interest for plants has been described as plant blindness, a term that is meant to encapsulate both the tendency to neglect plants in the environment and the lack of appreciation for plants’ functional roles. While the term plant blindness suggests a perceptual or attentional component to plant neglect, few studies have examined whether there are real differences in how plants and animals are perceived. Here, we use an established paradigm in visual cognition, the “attentional blink,” to compare the extent to which images of plants and animals capture attentional resources. We find that participants are better able to detect animals than plants in rapid image sequences and that visual attention has a different refractory period when a plant has been detected. These results suggest there are fundamental differences in how the visual system processes plants that may contribute to plant blindness. We discuss how perceptual and physiological constraints on visual processing may suggest useful strategies for characterizing and overcoming zoocentrism.

scholarly journals Research practices and statistical reporting quality in 250 economic psychology master's theses: a meta-research investigation

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 190738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome Olsen ◽  
Johanna Mosen ◽  
Martin Voracek ◽  
Erich Kirchler
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Power ◽  
Testing Effect ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Sample Size Determination ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Questionable Research Practices ◽  
Standardized Effect Sizes ◽  
Research Findings

The replicability of research findings has recently been disputed across multiple scientific disciplines. In constructive reaction, the research culture in psychology is facing fundamental changes, but investigations of research practices that led to these improvements have almost exclusively focused on academic researchers. By contrast, we investigated the statistical reporting quality and selected indicators of questionable research practices (QRPs) in psychology students' master's theses. In a total of 250 theses, we investigated utilization and magnitude of standardized effect sizes, along with statistical power, the consistency and completeness of reported results, and possible indications of p -hacking and further testing. Effect sizes were reported for 36% of focal tests (median r = 0.19), and only a single formal power analysis was reported for sample size determination (median observed power 1 − β = 0.67). Statcheck revealed inconsistent p -values in 18% of cases, while 2% led to decision errors. There were no clear indications of p -hacking or further testing. We discuss our findings in the light of promoting open science standards in teaching and student supervision.

Impact of the National Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Registry's Research Notification Mechanism (RNM) on Patient Recruitment for Clinical Trials and Epidemiological Studies (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Mehta ◽  
Jaime Raymond ◽  
Moon Kwon Han ◽  
Theodore Larson ◽  
James D Berry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Patient Recruitment ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Institutional Review ◽  
Eligibility Requirements ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
New Research

BACKGROUND Researchers face challenges in patient recruitment, especially for rare, fatal diseases like ALS. These challenges include obtaining sufficient statistical power as well as meeting eligibility requirements such as age, sex, and study proximity. Similarly, persons with ALS (PALS) face difficulty finding and enrolling in research studies for which they are eligible. OBJECTIVE To describe how the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) National ALS Registry is linking PALS to scientists who are conducting research, clinical trials, and epidemiological studies. METHODS Through the Registry’s online Research Notification Mechanism, PALS can elect to be notified about new research opportunities. This mechanism allows researchers to upload a standardized application outlining their study design and objectives, and proof of Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. If the application is approved, ATSDR queries the Registry for PALS meeting the study’s specific eligibility criteria, and then distributes the researcher’s study material and contact information to PALS via email. PALS then need to contact the researcher directly to take part in any research. Such an approach allows ATSDR to protect the confidentiality of Registry enrollees. RESULTS From 2013 – 2019, a total of 46 institutions around the US. have leveraged this tool and over 600,000 emails have been sent resulting conservatively in over 2,000 patients recruited for clinical trials and epidemiological studies. CONCLUSIONS The National ALS Registry’s Research Notification Mechanism benefits PALS by connecting them to appropriate ALS research. Simultaneously, the system benefits researchers by expediting recruitment, increasing sample size, and efficiently identifying PALS meeting specific eligibility requirements. As more researchers learn about and use this mechanism, both PALS and researchers can hasten research and expand trial options for PALS.

11. Creating new research practices

2002 ◽  
pp. 165-183
Author(s):  
Lene Foss ◽  
Henrik Kvadsheim ◽  
Johan E. Ravn
Keyword(s):  
Research Practices ◽  
New Research

Megascience in Particle Physics: The Birth of an Experiment String at Fermilab

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 508-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Bodnarczuk ◽  
Lillian Hoddeson
Keyword(s):  
Particle Physics ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Big Science ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Research Traditions ◽  
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory ◽  
New Research ◽  
Experimental Particle

During the 1970s and 1980s, the experimental particle physicists at large laboratories responded to the limited funding context of that time. Unlike the "big science" in the postwar decades, when funding for research appeared unlimited and many parameters grew exponentially, the even larger-scale "megascience" of the 1970s and on was shaped by competition for limited resources at host laboratories. Experimental programs increasingly took the form of long-lived (typically ten- to twenty-year) strings of related experiments, invisible institutions creating research traditions within the laboratory. Focusing on how a particular study of charmed particles (experiment E-516) at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory gave rise to one of the laboratory's earliest experiment strings (E-516-691-769-791), we explore why such strings evolved and how they led to new research practices. Because these strings produced conflicts and ironies that threatened to undermine fundamental aspects of the research, the emergence of experiment strings can be viewed as a limiting process of large-scale research in the 1970s and 1980s.

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