Attentional shifts between surfaces: effects on detection and early brain potentials.
Two consecutive events transforming the same illusory surface in transparent motion (brief changes in direction) can be discriminated with ease, but a prolonged interference ( approximately 500 ms) on the discrimination of the second event arises when different surfaces are concerned [Valdes-Sosa, M., Cobo, A., & Pinilla, T. (2000). Attention to object files defined by transparent motion. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 26(2), 488-505]. Here we further characterise this phenomenon and compare it to the attentional blink AB [Shapiro, K.L., Raymond, J.E., & Arnell, K.M. (1994). Attention to visual pattern information produces the attentional blink in RSVP. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 20, 357-371]. Similar to the AB, reduced sensitivity (d') was found in the two-surface condition. However, the two-surface cost was associated with a reduced N1 brain response in contrast to reports for AB [Vogel, E.K., Luck, S.J., & Shapiro, K. (1998). Electrophysiological evidence for a postperceptual locus of suppression during the attentional blink. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24(6), 1656-1674]. The results from this study indicate that the two-surface cost corresponds to competitive effects in early vision. Reasons for the discrepancy with the AB study are considered.
Pinilla
T
T
Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Cuban Center for Neuroscience, Havana, Cuba. tupac@cneuro.edu.cu
Cobo
A
A
Torres
K
K
Valdes-Sosa
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004585:Electrooculography; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric