The attention cascade model and attentional blink

Shih, Shui-I

doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2007.06.001

Cited by 59 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…2 It is worth mentioning that proponents on both sides of this debate have argued against each other's proposals, such that Vogel et al (2006) argued that "the attentional blink paradigm does not provide a good means of estimating the time course of WM consolidation" (p. 1437), whereas researchers working on the attentional blink have argued that "the manipulation of memory-mask stimulus onset asynchrony" used by Vogel et al does not affect "consolidation duration" (p. 224;Shih, 2008) and therefore should not be taken as a proper means for estimating the time course of WMC.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To wit, the typical pattern of results obtained in these experiments is that performance on the second target suffers a pronounced attentional blink effect, whereas performance on the first target is relatively accurate, unless it is followed within less than about 100 ms by the second target (see Figure 6; Dux & Marois, 2009;Martens & Wyble, 2010). In accounting for this pattern of results, it is often assumed that the attentional blink effect for the second target reflects an interference effect that is caused by the consolidation of the first target, with one proposal being that the consolidation of the first target results in an attentional blink because it involves a slow and immutable processing bottleneck (e.g., Chun & Potter, 1995;Jolicoeur & Dell'Acqua, 1998;Shih, 2008), whereas another proposes that the consolidation of the first target results in an attentional blink because it leads to a momentary lack of attention for newly encountered stimuli (e.g., Bowman & Wyble, 2007;Wyble et al, 2009Wyble et al, , 2011; see also Taatgen et al, 2009). According to both accounts, the initial "sparing" effect seen for second-target recall at an SOA of 100 ms occurs because the selection of information for consolidation in working memory occurs during an attentional episode that is initiated upon detection of the first target and that lasts approximately 100 -200 ms, thus allowing a second target to be selected for consolidation in the slipstream of the first target.…”

Section: Relationship With Previous Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To this end, we examined if and for how long the processing of a masked display of to-be-remembered stimuli can be disrupted by a trailing 2-alternative forced choice (2-AFC) task. The rationale underlying this approach resembles that underlying the interruption-bymasking approach (e.g., Gegenfurtner & Sperling, 1993;Vogel et al, 2006) in that it aimed to characterize the time course of WMC 1 It is worth noting that the implications of such a rapid consolidation process reach beyond theories of the attentional blink, as the assumption that WMC involves a relatively slow process also features in other theories, including the theory of short-term memory proposed by Jonides et al (2008) and Oberauer and colleagues' theory of performance in the complex span task (Oberauer, Lewandowsky, Farrell, Jarrold, & Greaves, 2012).2 It is worth mentioning that proponents on both sides of this debate have argued against each other's proposals, such that Vogel et al (2006) argued that "the attentional blink paradigm does not provide a good means of estimating the time course of WM consolidation" (p. 1437), whereas researchers working on the attentional blink have argued that "the manipulation of memory-mask stimulus onset asynchrony" used by Vogel et al does not affect "consolidation duration" (p. 224;Shih, 2008) and therefore should not be taken as a proper means for estimating the time course of WMC. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Importantly, this effect has been shown to occur regardless of whether the first target is masked (e.g., Nieuwenstein, Potter, & Theeuwes, 2009) but only if the first target can be recalled (Nieuwenstein, Van der Burg, Theeuwes, Wyble, & Potter, 2009), and it has also been found that the magnitude of the attentional blink is stronger when the amount of to-be-consolidated information is increased for the first target (Olson, Chun, & Anderson, 2001;Ouimet & Jolicoeur, 2007; see also Tombu et al, 2011). Accordingly, theories of the attentional blink generally assume that this effect reflects a consequence of consolidating the first target in memory, thus suggesting that the consolidation of a visual stimulus continues for several hundred milliseconds even after it has been masked (Bowman & Wyble, 2007;Chun & Potter, 1995;Jolicoeur & Dell'Acqua, 1998;Shih, 2008; Taatgen, Juvina, Schippers, Borst, & Martens, 2009;Wyble, Bowman, & Nieuwenstein, 2009;Wyble, Potter, Bowman, & Nieuwenstein, 2011; see also Lagroix, Spalek, Wyble, Jannati, & Di Lollo, 2012). In explaining how this might occur, theories of the attentional blink generally converge in assuming that the effect of a visual mask is confined to disrupting the processing of stimuli prior to selection for consolidation, that is, during the first stage of processing.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In explaining how this might occur, theories of the attentional blink generally converge in assuming that the effect of a visual mask is confined to disrupting the processing of stimuli prior to selection for consolidation, that is, during the first stage of processing. Once selected for consolidation, however, the representation of a stimulus is thought to undergo a strengthening (Shih, 2008) or binding process (Bowman & Wyble, 2007;Wyble et al, 2009Wyble et al, , 2011 that allows this representation to be sustained even in the face of a trailing mask, until consolidation is completed. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beyond a mask and against the bottleneck: Retroactive dual-task interference during working memory consolidation of a masked visual target.

Nieuwenstein¹,

Wyble

2014

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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While studies on visual memory commonly assume that the consolidation of a visual stimulus into working memory is interrupted by a trailing mask, studies on dual-task interference suggest that the consolidation of a stimulus can continue for several hundred milliseconds after a mask. As a result, estimates of the time course of working memory consolidation differ more than an order of magnitude. Here, we contrasted these opposing views by examining if and for how long the processing of a masked display of visual stimuli can be disturbed by a trailing 2-alternative forced choice task (2-AFC; a color discrimination task or a visual or auditory parity judgment task). The results showed that the presence of the 2-AFC task produced a pronounced retroactive interference effect that dissipated across stimulus onset asynchronies of 250 -1,000 ms, indicating that the processing elicited by the 2-AFC task interfered with the gradual consolidation of the earlier shown stimuli. Furthermore, this interference effect occurred regardless of whether the to-be-remembered stimuli comprised a string of letters or an unfamiliar complex visual shape, and it occurred regardless of whether these stimuli were masked. Conversely, the interference effect was reduced when the memory load for the 1st task was reduced, or when the 2nd task was a color detection task that did not require decision making. Taken together, these findings show that the formation of a durable and consciously accessible working memory trace for a briefly shown visual stimulus can be disturbed by a trailing 2-AFC task for up to several hundred milliseconds after the stimulus has been masked. By implication, the current findings challenge the common view that working memory consolidation involves an immutable central processing bottleneck, and they also make clear that consolidation does not stop when a stimulus is masked.Keywords: working-memory consolidation, backward masking, attentional blink, psychological refractory period, retroactive dual-task interferenceIn dealing with a rapid and ever-changing stream of visual sensory input, the storage of information in working memory forms a central requirement for many perceptual and cognitive tasks. While considerable insight has been gained into the quality and quantity of information that can be stored in working memory (e.g., Prinzmetal, Amiri, Allen, & Edwards, 1998;Wilken & Ma, 2004;Zhang & Luck, 2008), the mechanisms that mediate the initial transfer and consolidation of visual information into working memory remain poorly understood. As a case in point, consider the basic but important questions of how long it might take to consolidate a familiar visual stimulus such as a letter, and how this process might be affected when the letter is masked-a common procedure in studies on visual perception, attention, and memory. According to one influential perspective, the appearance of a mask would interrupt consolidation, and therefore the finding that people can recall about four letters from a 100-ms masked display en...

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Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%