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Dynamic Cognitive Processes pp 101–130Cite as

The Devil Is in The Detail: A Constructionist Account of Repetition Blindness

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Summary

People have difficulty detecting repetition of a word within rapid lists, although they can report the identities of many of the list words. This repetition blindness effect has been explained through a “type/token” account, which assumes a refractory period for registering second occurrences. In contradiction of that idea, holding the time course constant, we observed release from repetition blindness when critical words were marked while the rapid list was in progress. Also contrary to that account, we observed that subjects can become aware of repetition without becoming aware of what was repeated. We present an account of on-line repetition detection and blindness based instead on construction and attribution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Canada

    Bruce W. A. Whittlesea & Andrea D. Hughes

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  1. Bruce W. A. Whittlesea
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  2. Andrea D. Hughes
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Nobuo Ohta Ph.D. (Professor) & Bob Uttl Ph.D. (Professor) (Professor) &  (Professor)

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Colin M. MacLeod Ph.D. (Professor) (Professor)

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Whittlesea, B.W.A., Hughes, A.D. (2005). The Devil Is in The Detail: A Constructionist Account of Repetition Blindness. In: Ohta, N., MacLeod, C.M., Uttl, B. (eds) Dynamic Cognitive Processes. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/4-431-27431-6_6

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