Abstract

AREND, Isabel. Dividing attention between two stimuli: a review on the attentional blink effect. Aletheia [online]. 2005, n.22, pp. 7-22. ISSN 1413-0394.

We often observe that our ability to process more than one stimulus simultaneously is reduced. The limitations of the cognitive system to process visual stimuli have been an important research topic in both Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. More than a decade ago Shapiro, Raymond and Arnell (1992) reported that our accuracy to report the second of two targets is drastically reduced when the temporal interval between them is less than 500 milliseconds. This effect was called the attentional blink (AB). The importance of the AB for understanding the underlying mechanisms associated with the cost to select visual stimuli has generated more than 100 publications in recent years. The aim of the present paper is to present a brief review on the most relevant empirical and theoretical aspects of this effect.

Keywords : Attention; Attentional blink; Cognitive psychology; Cognitive neuroscience.

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