Chapter 1. Attentional Blink
1.1 Introduction
Attentional Blink
Our limited ability to process everything happening around us is a fundamental fact of the way we experience the world and a key area of study in cognitive psychology. These limits on our attention encompass, for example, the amount of material we can remember at a given time, the number of stimuli we can take in, and the number of responses we can make. Even when you and a friend are in the same room, your friend may not be able to pay attention to what you are saying or doing because they can only attend to a few of the stimuli and events going on at a time.
This experiment is designed to examine different ways in which attention is limited. If attention is directed toward one stimulus, other stimuli are ignored. In this study, we will see if responding to one stimulus influences our ability to respond to another stimulus that occurs shortly after the first. To do this experiment, we will use what is called Rapid Visual Serial Presentation (RSVP): stimuli are presented in the same location, one after the other.
References:
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 and Performance, 18(3), 849-860.
1.2 Experiment Setup
1.3 Instructions
Instructions
You will need to press the space bar to begin the experiment. At the beginning of each trial, a fixation mark will appear. Please look at this mark. After it is removed, letters will be presented rapidly in the same location as the fixation mark. There are two targets:
J and K
| Key | What Response Means |
|---|---|
| J | 'J' appeared in the trial. |
| K | 'K' appeared in the trial. |
| R | Repeat trial. |
Either one or both can be present in each trial. After the sequence is done, type the J key if you saw the J and type the K key if you saw the K. You may type them in any order. Your responses will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. If you make a mistake, you may use the delete key to remove a letter. If you need to repeat a trial because something distracted you, press the R key and the trial will be repeated at a random time later. Press the space bar to proceed to the next trial.
1.4 Experiment
Begin Experiment
1.5 Results
Results
1.6 Quiz
Quiz