Abstract
The attentional blink (AB) is one impressive demonstration of limited attentional capacities in time: a second target (T2) is often missed when it should be detected within 200–600 ms after a first target. According to the dynamic attending theory, attention cycles oscillatory. Regular rhythms (i.e., pulses) should evoke expectations regarding the point of the next occurrence of a tone/element in the rhythm. At this point, more attentional resources should be provided. Thus, if rhythmic information can be used to optimize attentional release, we assume a modulation of the AB when an additional rhythm is given. We tested this idea in two experiments with a visual (Experiment 1) or an auditory (Experiment 2) rhythm. We found large AB effects. However, the rhythm did not modulate the AB. If the rhythm had an influence at all, then Experiment 2 showed that an auditory rhythm (or stimulus) falling on T2 might generally boost visual processing, irrespective of attentional resources as indexed by the AB paradigm. Our experiments suggest that oscillatory cycling attention does not affect temporal selection as tapped in the AB paradigm.
Highlights
A fundamental function of attention is the ability to select information in space or time given the limited capacities of the cognitive system
Using rhythmically and repeatedly presented colored visual stimuli before and during an rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP)—in which a critical stimulus could appear either at the position of T2, one position before T2, one position after T2 or two positions after T2—we found a significant visual attentional blink (AB) with better detection rates at lag 5 than lag 3
Our results show that the position of the critical cue stimulus does not hamper T2 detection, as there were no differences between the different positions of the critical cue stimulus
Summary
A fundamental function of attention is the ability to select information in space or time given the limited capacities of the cognitive system. Reaction times depended on the metrical positions at which the stimuli were presented The authors interpreted their results as evidence that metrical entrainment can enhance stimulus processing. Miller et al (2013) found cross-modal influences of an auditory rhythm on the temporal attentional allocation to visual stimuli These authors used regular or irregular tone sequences either synchronous or asynchronous to visual targets. We assume that the AB could be diminished by introducing a rhythm which peaks at the point in time when T2 is presented In this case, the rhythm should evoke expectations regarding the point of T2 and more attentional resources should be provided at this point. Irregular rhythm—induced by entraining stimuli before the RSVP stream—enhances T2 performance In their experiments and due to their research question, attention to each stimulus should be enhanced with a regular rhythm. Their task was to indicate T1 identity and detect T2
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