The temporal dynamics of selective attention are reflected by distractor intrusions

Abstract

When observers have to identify an object embedded in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream, they often erroneously report the identity of a distractor instead of the target (distractor intrusion). In two experiments, we examined whether these intrusion errors are associated with the speed of attentional engagement. Participants reported the identity of target digits indicated by shape selection cues. To manipulate the speed of engagement, targets appeared either within a single RSVP stream or unpredictably in one of two streams. Objects that followed the selection cue were reported more frequently when engagement was delayed (two streams), whereas the probability of reporting objects preceding the cue was higher when engagement was faster (single stream). These results show that distractor intrusions are closely linked to the allocation of selective attention in time, making the intrusion paradigm a useful tool for research into the temporal dynamics of attention. They also provide new evidence for the idea that attentional selectivity operates within brief periods of perceptual enhancement (attentional episodes), facilitating the processing of all objects within this period, regardless of their status as targets or distractors.

Attention and feature binding in the temporal domain

“…By that time, representations of previous stimuli may already have faded or been overridden by the target object. This implies that manipulations that delay attentional engagement should result in more post-target distractor intrusions, while manipulations that speed up engagement should result in better accuracy but no increase of pre-target intrusions (as has indeed been found; Zivony & Eimer, 2023).…”

Attention in flux

“…43 The precise explanations for each of these well-documented phenomena are still being debated, but they share a common thread of proposing bottlenecks in specific stages of processing due to ongoing processing impeding other simultaneous analyses. Studies containing rapidly presented stimuli have also highlighted confusability between temporally adjacent targets and preceding or succeeding distractor items (distractor intrusion) [44][45][46][47] as well as the incorrect combination of features between items (illusory conjunctions in the temporal domain). 48 The swapping and meshing of temporally proximal stimuli suggest a temporal buffer for active processing as well as a limitation within which it is difficult to individuate and select target items.…”