Definition
Attentional blink (AB) is a phenomenon primarily reported in the visual domain (Horváth and Burgyán 2011), in which attention to a primary target results in a reduced likelihood of identifying a secondary target presented a short duration after. The effect is most pronounced in a 200–600 ms window after the initial target is presented (Nieuwenstein et al. 2009). The classic paradigm involves the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of letters, with a primary target letter and secondary target letter embedded within the RSVP. When the secondary target in the RSVP appears during the AB window, the likelihood of successful identification is dramatically reduced. If the secondary target is presented outside the 200–600 ms window, a deficit in identification does not occur. The initial reports of the AB reported that the effect depended on the inclusion of distractor letters in the RSVP (Raymond et al. 1992), though more recent reports have suggested that this may not be the...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References and Readings
Dux, P. E., & Marois, R. (2009). The attentional blink: A review of data and theory. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 71(8), 1683–1700. https://doi.org/10.3758/APP.71.8.1683.
Horváth, J., & Burgyán, A. (2011). Distraction and the auditory attentional blink. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 73(3), 695–701. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-010-0077-3.
Nieuwenstein, M. R., Potter, M. C., & Theeuwes, J. (2009). Unmasking the attentional blink. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance, 35(1), 159–169. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.35.1.159.
Raymond, J. E., Shapiro, K. L., & Arnell, K. M. (1992). Temporary suppression of visual processing in an RSVP task: an attentional blink? Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance, 18(3), 849–860. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1500880.
Visser, T. A. W. (2007). Masking T1 difficulty: Processing time and the attentional blink. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 33(2), 285–297. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.33.2.285.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Porges, E.S. (2018). Attentional Blink. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_9097
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_9097
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57110-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57111-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences