Temporal processing research is mostly done using the rapid serial visual presentation procedure (RSVP). The task is to detect or identify the target stimulus specified in the given instruction. The main assumption of early research was that mere perception (detection) of the target stimulus sets free the mechanism of temporal attention to fully process and analyze other upcoming stimuli. However, research using dual-task RSVP paradigm proved this assumption somewhat incorrect. The goal in the dual-task RSVP paradigm is to identify the first target stimulus and, afterwards, to detect the presence of the second target interval in the presented stream. The results of this research show large deficits in the processing of the second target stimulus up to the period of 700ms after the successful identification of the first target stimulus. This phenomenon is referred to as the attentional blink in an attempt to emphasize the similarity of processing limitation of temporal attention during the blink period with similar limitations in visual processing present during the blink of an eye. This paper gives an overview of the past 15 years of attentional blink research, reviews the basic findings and the suggested theoretical accounts.

temporal attention, attentional blink, RSVP, dual-task