PERSONAL NAMES AND THE ATTENTIONAL BLINK - A VISUAL COCKTAIL PARTY EFFECT

Four experiments were carried out to investigate an early- versus late -selection explanation for the attentional blink (AB). In both Experim ents 1 and 2, 3 groups of participants were required to identify a nou n (Experiment 1) or a name (Experiment 2) target (experimental conditi ons) and then to identify the presence or absence of a 2nd target (pro be), which was their own name, another name, or a specified noun from among a noun distracter stream (Experiment 1) or a name distracter str eam (Experiment 2). The conclusions drawn are that individuals do not experience an AB for their own names but do for either other names or nouns. In Experiments 3 and 4, either the participant's own name or an other name was presented, as the target and as the item that immediate ly followed the target, respectively. An AB effect was revealed in bot h experimental conditions. The results of these experiments are interp reted as support for a late-selection interference account of the AB.