Abstract
After the detection of a target (T1) in a rapid stream of visual stimuli, there is a period of 400–600 msec during which a subsequent target (T2) is missed. This impairment in performance has been labeled the attentional blink. Recent theories propose that the attentional blink reflects a bottleneck in working memory consolidation such that T2 cannot be consolidated until after T1 is consolidated, and T2 is therefore masked by subsequent stimuli if it is presented while T1 is being consolidated. In support of this explanation, Giesbrecht & Di Lollo (1998) found that when T2 is the final item in the stimulus stream, no attentional blink is observed, because there are no subsequent stimuli that might mask T2. To provide a direct test of this explanation of the attentional blink, in the present study we used the P3 component of the event-related potential waveform to track the processing of T2. When T2 was followed by a masking item, we found that the P3 wave was completely suppressed during the attentional blink period, indicating that T2 was not consolidated in working memory. When T2 was the last item in the stimulus stream, however, we found that the P3 wave was delayed but not suppressed, indicating that T2 consolidation was not eliminated but simply delayed. These results are consistent with a fundamental limit on the consolidation of information in working memory.
Article PDF
References
Broadbent, D. E., &Broadbent, M. H. P. (1987). From detection to identification: Response to multiple targets in rapid serial visual presentation.Perception & Psychophysics,42, 105–113.
Chun, M. M., &Potter, M. C. (1995). A two-stage model for multiple target detection in rapid serial visual presentation.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,21, 109–127.
De Jong, R. (1993). Multiple bottlenecks in overlapping task performance.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,19, 965–980.
Donchin, E. (1981). Surprise! … Surprise?Psychophysiology,18, 493–513.
Donchin, E., &Coles, M. G. H. (1988). Is the P300 component a manifestation of context updating?Behavioral & Brain Sciences,11, 357–374.
Giesbrecht, B. L., &Di Lollo, V. (1998). Beyond the attentional blink: Visual masking by object substitution.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,24, 1454–1466.
Hansen, J. C., &Hillyard, S. A. (1984). Effects of stimulation rate and attribute cuing on event-related potentials during selective auditory attention.Psychophysiology,21, 394–405.
Johnston, J. C., McCann, R. S., &Remington, R. W. (1996). Selective attention operates at two processing loci. In A. H. Kramer, M. G. H. Coles, & G. D. Logan (Eds.),Converging operations in the study of visual selective attention (pp. 439–458). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Jolicoeur, P. (1999). Concurrent response-selection demands modulate attentional blink.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,25, 1097–1113.
Jolicoeur, P., &Dell’Acqua, R. (1998). The demonstration of shortterm consolidation.Cognitive Psychology,36, 138–202.
Jolicoeur, P., &Dell’Acqua, R. (2000). Selective influence of second target exposure duration and Task1 load effects in the attentional blink phenomenon.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,7, 472–479.
Kramer, A. F., Wickens, C. D., &Donchin, E. (1983). An analysis of the processing requirements of a complex perceptual-motor task.Human Factors,25, 597–621.
Luck, S. J. (1998). Sources of dual-task interference: Evidence from human electrophysiology.Psychological Science,9, 223–227.
Magliero, A., Bashore, T. R., Coles, M. G. H., &Donchin, E. (1984). On the dependence of P300 latency on stimulus evaluation processes.Psychophysiology,21, 171–186.
Maki, W. S., Frigen, K., &Paulson, K. (1997). Associative priming by targets and distractors during rapid serial visual presentation: Does word meaning survive the attentional blink?Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,23, 1014–1034.
McCarthy, G., &Donchin, E. (1983). Chronometric analysis of human information processing. In A. W. K. Gaillard & W. Ritter (Eds.),Tutorials in ERP research: Endogenous components (pp. 251–268). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Meyer, D. E., &Kieras, D. E. (1997). A computational theory of executive cognitive processes and multiple-task performance: Part 2. Accounts of the psychological refractory period phenomena.Psychological Review,104, 3–65.
Pashler, H. (1989). Dissociations and dependencies between speed and accuracy: Evidence for a two-component theory of divided attention in simple tasks.Cognitive Psychology,21, 469–514.
Potter, M. C. (1976). Short-term conceptual memory for pictures.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory,2, 509–522.
Raymond, J. E., Shapiro, K. L., &Arnell, K. M. (1992). Temporary suppression of visual processing in an RSVP task: An attentional blink?Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,18, 849–860.
Reeves, A., &Sperling, G. (1986). Attention gating in short-term visual memory.Psychological Review,93, 180–206.
Ross, N. E., &Jolicoeur, P. (1999). Attentional blink for color.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,25, 1483–1494.
Schumacher, E. H., Seymour, T. L., Glass, J. M., Fencsik, D. E., Lauber, E. J., Kieras, D. E., &Meyer, D. E. (2001). Virtually perfect time sharing in dual-task performance: Uncorking the central bottleneck.Psychological Science,12, 101–108.
Shapiro, K., Driver, J., Ward, R., &Sorensen, R. E. (1997). Priming from the attentional blink: A failure to extract visual tokens but not visual types.Psychological Science,8, 95–100.
Sperling, G. (1960). The information available in brief visual presentations.Psychological Monographs,74 (11, Whole No. 498), 29.
Verleger, R. (1988). Event-related potentials and cognition: A critique of the context updating hypothesis and an alternative interpretation of P3.Behavioral & Brain Sciences,11, 343–427.
Vogel, E. K., Luck, S. J., &Shapiro, K. L. (1998). Electrophysiological evidence for a postperceptual locus of suppression during the attentional blink.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,24, 1656–1674.
Vogel, E. K., Woodman, G. F., &Luck, S. J. (2001). Storage of features, conjunctions, and objects in visual working memory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance,27, 92–114.
Zuvic, S. M., Visser, T. A. W., &Di Lollo, V. (2000). Direct estimates of processing delays in the attentional blink.Psychological Research,63, 192–198.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH56877), the National Science Foundation (SBR 98-09126), and the Human Frontier Science Program (RG0136).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vogel, E.K., Luck, S.J. Delayed working memory consolidation during the attentional blink. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 9, 739–743 (2002). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196329
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196329