Examining temporal and spatial attention with a reaction time attentional blink

Abstract

ABSTRACT Spatial distractor processing is impacted by the availability of spatial attention. What is less clear is the extent to which temporal selection alters such spatial selection, when considering response selection. The attentional blink (AB) paradigm is well-suited for studying this question. In this study, we adapted the AB task to measure response times. In Experiment 1, participants identified two targets (T1 and T2), where T2 was presented after T1 at varying lags. Temporal selection is said to select distractors only when T2 is presented within certain lags. Confirming this, an AB effect was found with slower responses to T2 at short lags. To test how temporal selection affects spatial selection in Experiments 2 and 3, response congruent and incongruent flankers were introduced beside T2 to determine if congruency effects change with lag. This was not observed, suggesting that spatial and temporal attention mechanisms may be separable.