Temporal tuning and attentional gating: Two distinct attentional mechanisms on the perception of rapid serial visual events

Ambinder, Michael S.; Lleras, Alejandro

doi:10.3758/app.71.7.1495

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…In particular, only a few letters were presented when the target appeared immediately after the onset of the sequence, which might have increased the chance level for correct responses, thereby resulting in an apparent improvement in identification performance. This explanation is well consistent with the previous findings that observers tended to randomly report one of the presented letters early in the RSVP sequence, but to more frequently confuse the posttarget distractor and the target later in the sequence (Ariga & Yokosawa, 2005), and that the temporary improved performance for the earliest position was eliminated when several items were presented after the target (Ambinder & Lleras, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…On the other hand, attentional awakening is observed with only one target and is thought of as a preparatory (or setup) cost associated with the time required to establish the modulated state of attention needed for processing rapid serial events (Ariga & Yokosawa, 2008). Ambinder and Lleras (2009) used manipulations that selectively modulated the magnitude of either attentional blink or attentional awakening phenomenon but without altering the magnitude of the other phenomenon. Therefore, these two phenomena look superficially similar but rely on different underlying mechanisms: Attentional blink reflects the temporal unavailability of identification or encoding processing for the second target due to the processing of the first target, whereas attentional awakening reflects an unfocused state of attention during the processing of rapidly changing temporal sequences.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Object-based maintenance of temporal attention in rapid serial visual presentation

2011

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The visual system dynamically modulates attention to identify a target embedded in a rapid sequence of nontargets. Typically, the accuracy of target identification increases as the number of preceding items increases and is maintained at this increased level: Known as the attentional awakening phenomenon. In this study, we investigated the temporal characteristics of the visual system that contribute to maintaining attentional state throughout a trial. In Experiment 1, we initially demonstrated that the enhanced state of attention was reset after a gap of 500Á1000 ms that was inserted in the sequence. In Experiment 2, we found that the attentional state was maintained when the temporally separated sequences were encapsulated by a continuous sequence of random dots. In the following experiments, we systematically manipulated the spatiotemporal configurations of random dots (or used a different object) and found that the attentional state was maintained as long as the object continuity was maintained.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Object-based maintenance of temporal attention in rapid serial visual presentation

2011

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“…Thus, stimuli late in the sequence should receive some degree of facilitation. Ambinder & Lleras (2009) [ 52 ] distinguished the attentional awakening mechanism from attentional blink; the latter refers to difficulty in identifying a second target in a stream if it is presented close in time (around 200 ms) to the first target. It is likely that different attentional mechanisms interacted in the present experimental conditions and we can only say which of them dominated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptual and Cognitive Factors Imposing “Speed Limits” on Reading Rate: A Study with the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation

et al. 2016

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Adults read at high speed, but estimates of their reading rate vary greatly, i.e., from 100 to 1500 words per minute (wpm). This discrepancy is likely due to different recording methods and to the different perceptual and cognitive processes involved in specific test conditions. The present study investigated the origins of these notable differences in RSVP reading rate (RR). In six experiments we investigated the role of many different perceptual and cognitive variables. The presence of a mask caused a steep decline in reading rate, with an estimated masking cost of about 200 wpm. When the decoding process was isolated, RR approached values of 1200 wpm. When the number of stimuli exceeded the short-term memory span, RR decreased to 800 wpm. The semantic context contributed to reading speed only by a factor of 1.4. Finally, eye movements imposed an upper limit on RR (around 300 wpm). Overall, data indicate a speed limit of 300 wpm, which corresponds to the time needed for eye movement execution, i.e., the most time consuming mechanism. Results reconcile differences in reading rates reported by different laboratories and thus provide suggestions for targeting different components of reading rate.

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“…A phase interruption would seem to be necessary in order to stop the enhanced processing of the subsequent distracters from drowning out the target information. This preferential phase would then need to be reestablished by another gradual entrainment, explaining the similar time course of the attentional awakening and attentional blink (but see Ambinder and Lleras, 2009). Martin et al (2011) found that the attentional blink was also decreased if jitter was added to the distracters prior to its presentation, indicating that the regular distracter intervals are an important precursor to the blink.…”

Section: Entrainment Of Temporal Attentionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…For instance, when distracters are presented at fixation in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP, most often at 10 Hz; Raymond et al, 1992) task, targets embedded in the regular sequence are usually easily detected, with some important exceptions. Participants’ ability to identify the target in the rapid sequence increases monotonically as a function of position in the series, from about 70% for position 2 to above 90% for position eight, after which performance asymptotes (Ariga and Yokosawa, 2008; Ambinder and Lleras, 2009). This increase in performance as a function of position in the stream has been labeled “attentional awakening” to indicate that temporal attention to the sequence is becoming entrained to the rhythm of the RSVP, as the stream unfolds.…”

Section: Entrainment Of Temporal Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pulsed Out of Awareness: EEG Alpha Oscillations Represent a Pulsed-Inhibition of Ongoing Cortical Processing

Mathewson¹,

Lleras²,

Beck³

et al. 2011

Front. Psychology

419

399

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Alpha oscillations are ubiquitous in the brain, but their role in cortical processing remains a matter of debate. Recently, evidence has begun to accumulate in support of a role for alpha oscillations in attention selection and control. Here we first review evidence that 8–12 Hz oscillations in the brain have a general inhibitory role in cognitive processing, with an emphasis on their role in visual processing. Then, we summarize the evidence in support of our recent proposal that alpha represents a pulsed-inhibition of ongoing neural activity. The phase of the ongoing electroencephalography can influence evoked activity and subsequent processing, and we propose that alpha exerts its inhibitory role through alternating microstates of inhibition and excitation. Finally, we discuss evidence that this pulsed-inhibition can be entrained to rhythmic stimuli in the environment, such that preferential processing occurs for stimuli at predictable moments. The entrainment of preferential phase may provide a mechanism for temporal attention in the brain. This pulsed inhibitory account of alpha has important implications for many common cognitive phenomena, such as the attentional blink, and seems to indicate that our visual experience may at least some times be coming through in waves.

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Temporal tuning and attentional gating: Two distinct attentional mechanisms on the perception of rapid serial visual events

Cited by 10 publications

References 46 publications

Object-based maintenance of temporal attention in rapid serial visual presentation

Object-based maintenance of temporal attention in rapid serial visual presentation

Perceptual and Cognitive Factors Imposing “Speed Limits” on Reading Rate: A Study with the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation

Pulsed Out of Awareness: EEG Alpha Oscillations Represent a Pulsed-Inhibition of Ongoing Cortical Processing

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