An inhibition effect in the temporal constrains of attentional selection: The Backward Blink

• Published in: Acta psychologica Vol. 139; no. 3; pp. 501 - 506
• Main Authors: Sdoia, Stefano, Ferlazzo, Fabio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier B.V 01.03.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Activity levels. Psychomotricity; Attention; Attention - physiology; Attentional Blink; Attentional Blink - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognitive control; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Inhibition; Inhibition (Psychology); Male; Memory; Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology; Photic Stimulation; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Recognition (Psychology); Task switching; Vigilance. Attention. Sleep; Young Adult; 2346; Memory; Attentional Blink; Attention; Task switching; Inhibition; Cognitive control; Attentional blink; Human; Selective attention; Perception; Cognition; Experimental study; Visual attention
• ISSN: 0001-6918; 1873-6297
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.01.005

The study aims at investigating the dynamics of visual information processing during sequential control of attentional selection. By combining two different traditional paradigms we show for the first time that during rapid selection of visual targets, encoding of a new target stimulus is facilitated by suppression of the preceding relevant stimulus category (Backward Blink; BB). Such inhibition would operate to reduce interference from previously stored information, in order to facilitate the instantiation of a new attentional episode. Results suggest that the same underlying inhibitory mechanism might contribute to two different attentional effects, specifically, the switch cost and the Attentional Blink, suggesting a general inhibitory mechanism of attentional control, with broad implications for understanding how the brain perceives any task-relevant stimulus. ► Combined Task-inhibition and Rapid-Serial-Visual-Presentation procedure. ► Report of 3 targets (T) among distractors in ABA or CBA target category sequence. ► Larger T3-Attentional Blink on ABA vs CBA due to residual T1-category inhibition. ► Attentional set inhibition supports rapid reengagement of attention to new items.