Attentional Blink

Researcher: Eric Ruthruff

The general purpose of these experiments is to learn more about capacity limitations in human information processing. Participants view a display consisting of about 20 letters, presented serially at a rate of 10 per second. The task is to identify the first target (in this case a T or an S), and then a second target (A or H) - which may be masked. The inability to detect a new target for a short time after the first target is presented is referred to as the "Attentional Blink". The duration of the blink depends on the participant, but is usually about half a second.

One of the goals of the present research is to determine what causes this inability to detect the second target. For instance, is it due to a failure to see the second target, or is it a failure to remember what was seen? How far into the visual system does the target get?

We are also trying to determine if the attentional blink is related to other well known forms of dual-task interference. For instance, it has long been known that it is very difficult to respond quickly to two tasks at the same time. This limitation is believed to be due to a bottleneck in selecting responses: we can only select a response to one task at a time. We hope to find out if this limitation is related to the attentional blink.

For More Information: send inquiries to ruthruff@eos.arc.nasa.gov

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