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A boost and Bounce theory of temporal attention (2008)
| Venue: | Psychological Review |
| Citations: | 46 - 0 self |
BibTeX
@ARTICLE{Olivers08aboost,
author = {Christian N. L. Olivers and Martijn Meeter},
title = {A boost and Bounce theory of temporal attention},
journal = {Psychological Review},
year = {2008},
pages = {836--863}
}
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Abstract
What is the time course of visual attention? Attentional blink studies have found that the second of two targets is often missed when presented within about 500 ms from the first target, resulting in theories about relatively long-lasting capacity limitations or bottlenecks. Earlier studies, however, have reported quite the opposite finding: Attention is transiently enhanced, rather than reduced, for several hundreds of milliseconds after a relevant event. We present a general theory as well as a working computational model which integrate these findings. There is no central role for capacity limitations or bottlenecks. Central is a rapidly responding gating system (or attentional filter) that seeks to enhance relevant and suppress irrelevant information. When items sufficiently match the target description, they elicit transient excitatory feedback activity (a “boost ” function), meant to provide access to working memory. However, in the attentional blink task, the distractor after the target is accidentally boosted, resulting in subsequent strong inhibitory feedback response (a “bounce”), which in effect closes the gate to working memory. The theory explains many findings that are problematic for limited-capacity accounts, including a new experiment showing that the attentional blink can be postponed.
Keyphrases
bounce theory temporal attention working computational model opposite finding general theory capacity limitation transient excitatory feedback activity subsequent strong inhibitory feedback response many finding attentional blink study central role limited-capacity account suppress irrelevant information boost function attentional blink target description long-lasting capacity limitation attentional blink task relevant event visual attention several hundred time course attentional filter new experiment showing first target
