Abstract

Two visual targets were presented at variable Stimulus Onset Asynchronies (SOAs) embedded in a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) stream of distractors. The first stimulus, T1, was a white digit. The second stimulus was a black letter, which could be either an "E" (T2) on 25% of the trials, or a different letter on the remaining trials. Subjects were asked to report, with no time pressure, both the identity of the T1 digit and whether or not T2 was presented following T1. Besides accuracy, the Event Related Potential (ERP) locked to the onset of T2 was measured. Results indicated an Attentional Blink (AB) effect, i.e., T2 report accuracy decreased as the T1-T2 SOA was shortened. There was also a correlation between T2 accuracy and the P3 component amplitude of the ERP, i.e., the P3 amplitude decreased monotonically as the T1-T2 SOA was shortened.