Capture by D2 was inferred from engagement to relevant-color D2 or D2+1 (relative to irrelevant color). Results: 1. A relevant-color D1 produced an Attentional ...
Dissociating attentional capture and attentional engagement: an attentional blink study Background
Alon Zivony ▪ Dominique Lamy ▪ Tel Aviv University
Experiment 1 (N=14)
Experiment 2 (N=12)
Conclusions
Research question Attentional selection is a multi-staged process: 1) Attentional capture (shifting of attention) 2) Attentional engagement (extracting information)
We dissociated between attentional capture and attentional engagement, for both spatial and non-spatial attention: The attentional blink disrupted attentional engagement, but not attentional capture.
Although theoretically different, these stages often remain undistinguished in practice. Can attentional capture and attentional engagement be dissociated?
Does it affect attentional capture (Di Lollo et al., 2005) or delay attentional engagement (Nieuwenstein, 2006)?
R Irrelevant-color D2
D2
Engagement to D2+1
Engagement to D2 D2 compatibility
Accuracy
Attentional Blink
Relevant-color D2
D2+1 intrusions
D2
Results: 1. A relevant-color D1 produced an Attentional Blink. 2. A relevant-color D2 captured attention. 3. During the AB, engagement was delayed.
R Irrelevant-color D2
Attentional Blink
References Di Lollo, V., Kawahara, J.I., Ghorashi, S.S., & Enns, J.T. (2005). The attentional blink: Resource depletion or temporary loss of control? Psychological research, 69(3), 191-200. Folk, C. L., Leber, A. B., & Egeth, H. E. (2008). Top-down control settings and the attentional blink: Evidence for nonspatial contingent capture. Visual Cognition, 16, 616-642. Nieuwenstein, M.R. (2006). Top-down controlled, delayed selection in the attentional blink. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 32(4), 973.
Relevant-color D2
No D2
Capture by D2
Engagement to D2 Location benefit
The attentional blink disrupts attentional selection.
Results: 1. A relevant-color D1 produced an Attentional Blink. 2. A relevant-color D2 produced spatial capture. 3. During the AB, engagement was delayed. 4. During the AB, spatial capture was unaffected.
D2 intrusions
The attentional blink also occurs when the first target is replaced by a distractor that matches the target defining feature (Folk et al., 2008).
Measures: - Attentional blink by D1: target accuracy for D1-target lag1 vs. lag8. - Engagement to D2: % of D2 intrusion errors. - Attentional capture by D2: spatial cueing effect (same vs. different from target).
Accuracy
The attentional blink When two target appear in close temporal proximity, the second target is often missed.
Measures: - Attentional blink by D1: target accuracy for relevant vs. irrelevant D1. - Engagement to D2: D2-target compatibility effects. - Engagement to D2+1: % of D2+1 intrusions errors (reporting D2+1 as the target). - Capture by D2 was inferred from engagement to relevant-color D2 or D2+1 (relative to irrelevant color).
These results support the Delayed Engagement Account of the Attentional Blink (Nieuwenstein, 2006) over models that emphasize disruption of attentional control (Di Lollo et al., 2005).
