Abstract
Background: Most people show a remarkable deficit in reporting the second of two targets (T2) when presented 200- 500 ms after the first (T1), reflecting an 'attentional blink' (AB). However, there are large individual differences in the magnitude of the effect, with some people, referred to as 'non-blinkers', showing no such attentional restrictions. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we replicate these individual differences in a task requiring identification of two letters amongst digits, and show that the observed differences in T2 performance cannot be attributed to individual differences in T1 performance. In a second experiment, the generality of the non-blinkers' superior performance was tested using a task containing novel pictures rather than alphanumeric stimuli. A substantial AB was obtained in non-blinkers that was equivalent to that of 'blinkers'. Conclusion/Significance: The results suggest that non-blinkers employ an efficient target selection strategy that relies on well-learned alphabetic and numeric category sets.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | e13562 |
| Journal | PloS one |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 17 2010 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
Cite this
}
A quick mind with letters can be a slow mind with natural scenes : Individual differences in attentional selection. / Martens, Sander; Dun, Mathijs; Wyble, Bradley Paul; Potter, Mary C.
In: PloS one, Vol. 5, No. 10, e13562, 17.11.2010.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - A quick mind with letters can be a slow mind with natural scenes
T2 - Individual differences in attentional selection
AU - Martens, Sander
AU - Dun, Mathijs
AU - Wyble, Bradley Paul
AU - Potter, Mary C.
PY - 2010/11/17
Y1 - 2010/11/17
N2 - Background: Most people show a remarkable deficit in reporting the second of two targets (T2) when presented 200- 500 ms after the first (T1), reflecting an 'attentional blink' (AB). However, there are large individual differences in the magnitude of the effect, with some people, referred to as 'non-blinkers', showing no such attentional restrictions. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we replicate these individual differences in a task requiring identification of two letters amongst digits, and show that the observed differences in T2 performance cannot be attributed to individual differences in T1 performance. In a second experiment, the generality of the non-blinkers' superior performance was tested using a task containing novel pictures rather than alphanumeric stimuli. A substantial AB was obtained in non-blinkers that was equivalent to that of 'blinkers'. Conclusion/Significance: The results suggest that non-blinkers employ an efficient target selection strategy that relies on well-learned alphabetic and numeric category sets.
AB - Background: Most people show a remarkable deficit in reporting the second of two targets (T2) when presented 200- 500 ms after the first (T1), reflecting an 'attentional blink' (AB). However, there are large individual differences in the magnitude of the effect, with some people, referred to as 'non-blinkers', showing no such attentional restrictions. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we replicate these individual differences in a task requiring identification of two letters amongst digits, and show that the observed differences in T2 performance cannot be attributed to individual differences in T1 performance. In a second experiment, the generality of the non-blinkers' superior performance was tested using a task containing novel pictures rather than alphanumeric stimuli. A substantial AB was obtained in non-blinkers that was equivalent to that of 'blinkers'. Conclusion/Significance: The results suggest that non-blinkers employ an efficient target selection strategy that relies on well-learned alphabetic and numeric category sets.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0013562
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0013562
M3 - Article
VL - 5
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 10
M1 - e13562
ER -