BEYOND SIMILARITY - MASKING OF THE TARGET IS SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE THE ATTENTIONAL BLINK

When subjects are asked to identify a letter target embedded in a rapi d serial visual presentation stream, the detection of a subsequent let ter probe is briefly impaired. This transient deficit in probe detecti on, termed the ''attentional blink,'' depends on the type of item that immediately follows the letter target (Raymond, Shapiro, & Arnell, 19 95). Two models have been proposed to account for this effect. The int erference model of the attentional blink predicts that visual similari ty between the probe and item immediately following the target (+1 ite m) causes the attentional blink, whereas the two-stage model is based on the notion that increased time needed to process the target letter causes the attentional blink. In order to test between these two possi bilities, the masking properties of the +1 item and its similarity to the probe were varied. We found the attentional blink when the +1 item acted as a mask of the target, even though the +1 item and the probe were visually dissimilar. This pattern of results supports the two-sta ge model of the attentional blink.