scholarly journals Attentional blink magnitude is predicted by the ability to keep irrelevant material out of working memory

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 200-200
Author(s):  
K. Arnell ◽  
S. Stubitz
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Attentional Blink Magnitude

scholarly journals Scoring Alternatives for Mental Speed Tests: Measurement Issues and Validity for Working Memory Capacity and the Attentional Blink Effect

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Schmitz ◽  
Dominik Rotter ◽  
Oliver Wilhelm
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Diffusion Model ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
General Factor

Research suggests that the relation of mental speed with working memory capacity (WMC) depends on complexity and scoring methods of speed tasks and the type of task used to assess capacity limits in working memory. In the present study, we included conventional binding/updating measures of WMC as well as rapid serial visual presentation paradigms. The latter allowed for a computation of the attentional blink (AB) effect that was argued to measure capacity limitations at the encoding stage of working memory. Mental speed was assessed with a set of tasks and scored by diverse methods, including response time (RT) based scores, as well as ex-Gaussian and diffusion model parameterization. Relations of latent factors were investigated using structure equation modeling techniques. RT-based scores of mental speed yielded substantial correlations with WMC but only weak relations with the AB effect, while WMC and the AB magnitude were independent. The strength of the speed-WMC relation was shown to depend on task type. Additionally, the increase in predictive validity across RT quantiles changed across task types, suggesting that the worst performance rule (WPR) depends on task characteristics. In contrast to the latter, relations of speed with the AB effect did not change across RT quantiles. Relations of the model parameters were consistently found for the ex-Gaussian tau parameter and the diffusion model drift rate. However, depending on task type, other parameters showed plausible relations as well. The finding that characteristics of mental speed tasks determined the overall strength of relations with WMC, the occurrence of a WPR effect, and the specific pattern of relations of model parameters, implies that mental speed tasks are not exchangeable measurement tools. In spite of reflecting a general factor of mental speed, different speed tasks possess different requirements, supporting the notion of mental speed as a hierarchical construct.

scholarly journals Working memory and the attentional blink: Blink size is predicted by individual differences in operation span

2007 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1051-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenza S. Colzato ◽  
Michiel M. A. Spapé ◽  
Merel M. Pannebakker ◽  
Bernhard Hommel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Operation Span

scholarly journals Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over Left Dorsolateral pFC on the Attentional Blink Depend on Individual Baseline Performance

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 2382-2393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel E. London ◽  
Heleen A. Slagter
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Direct Current ◽  
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Anodal Tdcs ◽  
Direct Current Stimulation ◽  
Cathodal Tdcs ◽  
Left Dlpfc

Selection mechanisms that dynamically gate only relevant perceptual information for further processing and sustained representation in working memory are critical for goal-directed behavior. We examined whether this gating process can be modulated by anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over left dorsolateral pFC (DLPFC)—a region known to play a key role in working memory and conscious access. Specifically, we examined the effects of tDCS on the magnitude of the so-called “attentional blink” (AB), a deficit in identifying the second of two targets presented in rapid succession. Thirty-four participants performed a standard AB task before (baseline), during, and after 20 min of 1-mA anodal and cathodal tDCS in two separate sessions. On the basis of previous reports linking individual differences in AB magnitude to individual differences in DLPFC activity and on suggestions that effects of tDCS depend on baseline brain activity levels, we hypothesized that anodal tDCS over left DLPFC would modulate the magnitude of the AB as a function of individual baseline AB magnitude. Indeed, individual differences analyses revealed that anodal tDCS decreased the AB in participants with a large baseline AB but increased the AB in participants with a small baseline AB. This effect was only observed during (but not after) stimulation, was not found for cathodal tDCS, and could not be explained by regression to the mean. Notably, the effects of tDCS were not apparent at the group level, highlighting the importance of taking individual variability in performance into account when evaluating the effectiveness of tDCS. These findings support the idea that left DLPFC plays a critical role in the AB and in conscious access more generally. They are also in line with the notion that there is an optimal level of prefrontal activity for cognitive function, with both too little and too much activity hurting performance.

scholarly journals What processes are disrupted during the attentional blink? An integrative review of event-related potentials research

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alon Zivony ◽  
Dominique Lamy
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Memory Encoding ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Structural Limitation ◽  
Attentional Engagement ◽  
Early Processing ◽  
Related Potentials

Reporting the second of two targets is impaired when these appear in close succession, a phenomenon known as the attentional blink (AB). Despite decades of research, what mechanisms are affected by the AB remains unclear. Specifically, two central issues remain open: Does the AB disrupt attentional processes or reflect a structural limitation in working memory encoding? Does it disrupt perceptual processing or only post-perceptual processes? We address these questions by reviewing event-related potentials (ERP) studies of the AB. The findings reveal that the core influence of the AB is by disrupting attentional engagement (indexed by N2pc). As a consequence, while early processing (indexed by P1\N1) is spared, semantic processing (indexed by N400) and working memory (WM) encoding (indexed by P3b) are compromised: minor disruptions to attentional engagement weaken but do not eliminate semantic processing, whereas they prevent encoding in WM. Thus, semantic processing can survive the blink, whereas encoding in WM does not. To accommodate these conclusions, we suggest a Disrupted Engagement and Perception (DEaP) account of the attentional blink.

scholarly journals Crossmodal Attentional Blink Induced by Executive Working Memory

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Haechan Jun ◽  
Min-Shik Kim
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Executive Working Memory

scholarly journals Target-Target Perceptual Similarity Within the Attentional Blink

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan M. Makarov ◽  
Elena S. Gorbunova
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Trial Design ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Perceptual Similarity ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
Report Accuracy ◽  
Blocked Design ◽  
Shape And Size

Three experiments investigated the role of target-target perceptual similarity within the attentional blink (AB). Various geometric shapes were presented in a rapid serial visual presentation task. Targets could have 2, 1, or 0 shared features. Features included shape and size. The second target was presented after five or six different lags after the first target. The task was to detect both targets on each trial. Second-target report accuracy was increased by target-target similarity. This modulation was observed more for mixed-trial design as compared with blocked design. Results are discussed in terms of increased stability of working memory representations and reduced interference for second-target processing.

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