21st Annual Student Research Conference
Explaining the Attentional Blink, Part I: Combining the Sternberg Paradigm with an RSVP Task.
Mallory C. Stites*, Elizabeth A. Necka, Christina Phan, Jayne C. Fields, and Rachel R. Horsch
Dr. Robert Tigner, Faculty Mentor
A series of experiments was conducted in hopes of identifying the underlying cause for the Attentional Blink (AB). The AB refers to our inability to identify a second target if it appears within 0.5 sec of an initial target. Each experimental trial started with the presentation of a set or 2 or 4 target digits. Ss then viewed a series of letters/digits presented at a rate of 10/sec, with two targets in the stream differentiated by their unique color. For half of the participants, both of the targets were digits and Ss reported if each was part of the initial memory set; for the remaining participants, only the first target was a digit to be compared to the memory set while the second target was a letter to be identified. Results reveal an AB with separate effects from memory load and type of task.
Keywords: Attentional Blink, Working Memory, Attention, RSVP Task
Topic(s):Psychology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 12-3
Location: VH 1232
Time: 8:45