Behavioural and electrophysiological investigations of the attentional blink

在我们的日常生活中，我们经常必须同时完成两项任务，或者同时关注不止一种刺激。例如，我们可以边开车边打手机，或者边听课边记笔记。我们试图共同完成的许多任务都需要注意。与我们想要一次完成所有事情的愿望不同的是，我们一次可以处理和处理的信息量是有限的。这种注意力限制是令人沮丧的，因为即使当两个任务不共享相同的输入(例如，眼睛)或输出(例如，手)系统时，它们也经常在多任务的条件下预测一个或多个任务即将失败。然而，我们在多任务情境中的失败可以提供关于注意的功能性和基本人类加工限制的有价值的信息。为了检验双重任务范式中注意加工限制的性质和持续时间，我提出了两个不同的离散目标，每个目标都需要一个简单的反应，并操纵目标的性质、目标任务的性质、目标之间的分离和呈现条件。当参与者执行双重任务条件时，也会进行电生理记录，这样就可以检查大脑对目标做出反应的电活动模式。注意处理限制的性质和持续时间是从行为反应的模式(反应时间和准确性)和与特定认知过程有关的脑波成分(幅度和潜伏期)推断出来的。我还试图通过研究为什么一些人表现出比其他人更多的多任务成本来理解双重任务成本。被试在单一任务条件下完成各种认知任务。其中一些任务很简单，比如查看字母时按下按钮，但其他任务则更复杂，如阅读、记忆任务或解决问题任务。然后，这些任务的绩效水平与双重任务试验的绩效成本相关。单任务绩效和双任务成本之间的强烈关系表明了一个共同的潜在认知过程。然后使用电生理技术来分离这一过程。

In our everyday lives we must often perform two tasks at once, or attend to more than one stimulus at a time. For example, we may talk on our cellular phone while driving, or take notes while listening to a lecture. Many of the tasks we try to perform in combination require attention. At odds with our desire to do everything at once is the fact that there are finite limits on how much information we can attend to and process at any one time. Such attentional limitations are frustrating in that they often predict the imminent failure of one or more tasks under conditions of multi-tasking even when two tasks do not share the same input (e.g., eyes) or output (e.g., hands) systems. However, our failures in multi-task situations can provide valuable information concerning functional and fundamental human processing limitations on attention.To examine the nature and duration of attentional processing limitations in dual-task paradigms, I present two different discrete targets each requiring a simple response, and manipulate the nature of the targets, the nature of the target tasks, the separation between the targets, and the presentation conditions. Electrophysiological recordings are also taken while participants perform dual-task conditions so that the pattern of electrical brain activity in response to the targets can be examined. The nature and duration of attentional processing limitations are inferred from the pattern of behavioural responses (response time and accuracy) and the brainwave components (amplitude and latency) that relate to specific cognitive processes.I also seek to understand dual-task costs by examining why some individuals show larger multi-tasking costs than others. Participants perform various cognitive tasks under single task conditions. Some of these tasks are simple such as pressing a button when viewing a letter, but others are more complex such as reading, memory tasks, or problem solving tasks. The level of performance on these tasks is then related to performance costs on the dual-task trials. Strong relationships between single-task performance and dual-task costs suggest a common underlying cognitive process. Electrophysiological techniques are then used to isolate this process.