Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

The Experiential Blink: mapping the cost of working memory encoding onto conscious perception in the attentional blink

Pincham, Hannah, Bowman, Howard, Denes, Szucs (2016) The Experiential Blink: mapping the cost of working memory encoding onto conscious perception in the attentional blink. Cortex, 81 . pp. 35-49. ISSN 0010-9452. (doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2016.04.007) (KAR id:55816)

PDF Author's Accepted Manuscript
Language: English


Download this file
(PDF/1MB)
[thumbnail of Experiential blink Paper - Post Print Version for Websites.pdf]
Request a format suitable for use with assistive technology e.g. a screenreader
PDF Author's Accepted Manuscript
Language: English

Restricted to Repository staff only
[thumbnail of Experiential blink Paper - Post Print Version for Websites.pdf]
Official URL:
http://www.dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2016.04.007

Abstract

The attentional blink (AB) represents a cognitive deficit in reporting the second of two targets (T2), when that second target appears 200-600 msec after the first (T1). However, it is unclear how this paradigm impacts the subjective visibility (that is, the conscious perception) of T2, and whether the temporal profile of T2 report accuracy matches the temporal profile of subjective visibility. In order to compare report accuracy and subjective visibility, we asked participants to identify T1 and T2, and to rate the subjective visibility of T2 across two experiments. Event-related potentials were also measured. The results revealed different profiles for the report of T2 versus the subjective visibility of T2, particularly when T1 and T2 appeared within 200 msec of one another. Specifically, T2 report accuracy was high but T2 visibility was low when the two targets appeared in close temporal succession, suggesting what we call the Experiential Blink is different from the classic AB. Electrophysiologically, at lag-1, the P3 component was modulated more by subjective visibility than by report accuracy. Collectively, the data indicate that the deficit in accurately reporting T2 is not the same as the deficit in subjectively experiencing T2. This suggests that traditional understandings of the AB may require adjustment and that, consistent with other findings, working memory (WM) encoding and conscious perception may not be synonymous.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.04.007
Uncontrolled keywords: Attention, consciousness, electroencephalography, P300, subjective visibility
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF41 Psychology and philosophy
Q Science > QM Human anatomy
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences > School of Computing
Depositing User: Howard Bowman
Date Deposited: 06 Jun 2016 16:29 UTC
Last Modified: 05 Nov 2024 10:45 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/55816 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.