The time course of competition for attention: attention is initially labile.

Full Abstract

Competition for attention between 2 written words was investigated by presenting the words briefly in a single stream of distractors (Experiment 1) or in different streams (Experiment 2-6), using rapid serial visual presentation at 53 ms/item. Stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was varied from 0 to 213 ms. At all SOAs there was strong competition, but which word was more likely to be reported shifted markedly with SOA. At SOAs in the range of 13-53 ms the second word was more likely to be reported, but at 213 ms, the advantage switched to the first word, as in the attentional blink. A 2-stage competition model of attention is proposed in which attention to a detected target is labile in Stage 1. Stage 1 ends when one target is identified, initiating a serial Stage 2 process of consolidation of that target.

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Author information

Author/s: Potter, Mary C (MC); Staub, Adrian (A); O'Connor, Daniel H (DH);

Affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA. mpotter(-atsign-)mit.edu

Grants: MH47432 (Agency:United States NIMH)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance (J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Oct; vol 28 (issue 5) : pp 1149-62

Dates: Created 2002/11/07; Completed 2003/02/26; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 12421061, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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