On the Blink: The Importance of Target-Distractor Similarity in Eliciting an Attentional Blink with Faces

Kathrin Müsch,Andreas K Engel,Till R Schneider,Justin Harris

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041257

Kathrin Müsch, Andreas K Engel + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0041257

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Abstract

Temporal allocation of attention is often investigated with a paradigm in which two relevant target items are presented in a rapid sequence of irrelevant distractors. The term Attentional Blink (AB) denotes a transient impairment of awareness for the second of these two target items when presented close in time. Experimental studies reported that the AB is reduced when the second target is emotionally significant, suggesting a modulation of attention allocation. The aim of the present study was to systematically investigate the influence of target-distractor similarity on AB magnitude for faces with emotional expressions under conditions of limited attention in a series of six rapid serial visual presentation experiments. The task on the first target was either to discriminate the gender of a neutral face (Experiments 1, 3–6) or an indoor/outdoor visual scene (Experiment 2). The task on the second target required either the detection of emotional expressions (Experiments 1–5) or the detection of a face (Experiment 6). The AB was minimal or absent when targets could be easily discriminated from each other. Three successive experiments revealed that insufficient masking and target-distractor similarity could account for the observed immunity of faces against the AB in the first two experiments. An AB was present but not increased when the facial expression was irrelevant to the task suggesting that target-distractor similarity plays a more important role in eliciting an AB than the attentional set demanded by the specific task. In line with previous work, emotional faces were less affected by the AB.

Highlights

When we allocate attention to a flux of incoming stimuli, awareness for these stimuli is not constant over time but instead fluctuates from moment to moment
The correct report of first target (T1) was dependent on the lag (Table 1, Figure 2), which was reflected by a linear increase across lags (Table 2)
The decreased performance on second target (T2) could be interpreted as a genuine Attentional Blink (AB), which was modulated by emotional expression

Summary

Introduction

When we allocate attention to a flux of incoming stimuli, awareness for these stimuli is not constant over time but instead fluctuates from moment to moment. In order to study how visual awareness is changing over time during a stream of quickly succeeding information, rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigms are widely used. In these paradigms, one or more targets have to be reported in a stream of rapidly succeeding stimuli. The AB reflects a deficit in reporting the second target (T2) in case it follows the first task-relevant target (T1) with a temporal delay of 100–400 ms [1,2,3]. In single task conditions physical stimulation remains the same (presentation of T1 and T2) but attentional demands are decreased, as only the second stimulus is task-relevant. In single task conditions the AB is usually absent [2]

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