New object onsets reduce conscious access to unattended targets.
Attention to a visual target can affect perception of a subsequent target for half a second, increasing its sensitivity to backward masking (the attentional blink, AB). In 6 studies, we compared the AB when the second target and its mask had a common onset and when the mask appeared after the target. The results indicate that common-onset masks do not produce large ABs even when there is a feature change or an interruption of the mask after the target but do produce a large AB if the location of the mask is changed. The data suggest that new object onsets reduce conscious access to unattended targets.
Marti
Sébastien
S
Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada.
Paradis
Véronique
V
Thibeault
Marc
M
Richer
Francois
F
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity; D005260:Female; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors