The human brain is a complex organ tasked with different cognitive functions. There are various categories of mental processes among them include, thought, perception and attention. The brain is able to perform several tasks simultaneously; the cognitive functions of the brain, which are both voluntary and non-voluntary, can happen at a go. However when performing specific tasks, and especially those that require concentration more of our attention is required.
Research has shown that even the slightest distraction in the fraction of a second can make quite an impact on our lives. Whether one is out driving, or even something simple as playing cards with friends; concentration is something that is necessary. Attention is defined as the act of focusing mental energy towards a particular stimulus. It requires various strengths and capacities depending on the task, also it has been noted that various levels of cognitive development come with a specific ability to focus an amount of mental effort on a task. However, with a busy world and busy schedules the human mind is wired in such a way that it receives a lot of stimulation from various sources. If not from an external source, definitely distraction emanating from inside from thoughts and feelings are bound to make our attention veer of track.
An attention blink is the result of a situation in which one is focused on a certain object or event, then gets suddenly distracted in a moment or a fraction of a second because of another object coming into perception, or because of a particular anticipation of another event. During this period of changing or switching a glance, one can be said to have experienced an attention blink. The blink might be so tiny and negligible in some instances that one would consider it as insignificant. However, in certain professions and situations, this blink can lead to what is known as cognitive blindness; when this happens, the individual experiencing the cognitive blindness is at risk of not perceiving events, or all objects within their surrounding adequately, in some cases it has led to bad consequences and outcomes.
The human brain finds it difficult to pay attention to two items that are presented just half a second apart. When the letters are rapidly presented half a second apart the attention will be drawn towards the first target letter that is brought under the visual percept and the act of switching this attention to the second letter when brought immediately within half a second becomes difficult and that is when the attention blink takes place. The time gap between the first target letter and the second one affects the brain’s ability to maintain attention and its therefore hard for an individual to notice the second target letter immediately after the first one (Livesey, Harris, & Harris, 2009). However, attention blink can be eliminated through implicit learning. Implicit learning refers to the learning that occurs without conscious awareness. When a structured stimulus, which follows a particular transitional rule, is presented to participants on a screen, the brain is able to detect that stimulus even if the participant is not able to explain how the rules or structure works. For example, if letters written in red are the target letters and they are presented half a second apart in between other letters written in white, in a random visual presentation. An individual can be able to remember the second target letter even though the time variation was small this is because the two letters were presented in a distinct color making them stand out and this gives the brain a form of structure or rule that can enable it to eliminate attention blink.
Other than letters, other targets can bring the same effect of attentional blink to an observer. Another target can be the use of nouns presented on a screen in rapid successions or the use of numbers as targets. In comparison with Coglab experiment where letters were used, the use of nouns can also induce attention blink. A good example can be seen when participants are given two specific nouns to look out for in a series of many nouns that are being passed on rapidly on a screen in front of them. If the participants were instructed to press a specific key every time they spot one of the specified nouns, many participants would miss one of the target nouns if they appear half a second apart. This is because when one’s attention is focused on the first target noun the brain will find it difficult to shift its attention to the next noun if it comes just immediately within half a second. In this case, attentional blink is said to have occurred. When it comes to the use of numbers, participants can be asked to single out two odd numbers in a rapid presentation of many even numbers. In most cases, the first target odd number can be spotted but participants may find it difficult to note the other odd number if it appears immediately within half a second within the rapid succession. This is because the brain needs more than half a second to shift focus from one item to another especially in a situation where the items fighting for attention do not stand out in such a way that it will be easier for an individual to focus on both items and keep them in memory.
Attentional blink can cause how well we focus on some activities especially when it comes to our day today lives. In some careers, attentional blink can be a real menace. One of these occupations is the banking occupation whereby if a bank teller is calculating money that are arranged in $20 bills if a $1 bill is mixed with these other bills, the teller is more likely to calculate the one dollar bill as a twenty dollar bill. In this case, the effect of the attention blink can lead to wrong calculations and balancing of accounts in such an occupation because of the probability of the observer to miss the correct value when dealing with large amounts of money, in a situation where they are mixed with smaller amounts of money.
Sports announcing or sports broadcasting is another occupation, which can be adversely affected by attention blink. A sports announcer normally gives reports or follow-ups on different sports events as they occur. Attentional blink can occur to a sports broadcaster especially in a situation where they are covering the sports event while in action. For example, this is likely to occur if it’s a play-by-play announcer who is covering a football game between two competitive teams. If the teams happen to score almost in succession within a short period where the announcer is trying hard to shift his or her attention between the two teams consecutively, the announcer can fail to detect the second scoring from the other team as soon as it happens if their attention was on the first team that scored. In this case, it can lead to mistakes such as the announcer giving the wrong feedback to the listeners like for example the specific time in which the second goal was scored or production of a report based on errors.
The other occupation that is affected by attentional blink is police work. In some cases, it may be extremely difficult for a police officer to pay attention to two stressful events that are happening at the same time. For example, it can be extremely difficult for an officer to give a clear report on whether they fired their weapon because an assailant refused arrest or whether it was a wrong judgment due to a shift in attention. This kind of attention blink can cause adverse effects to police officers such as loss of their jobs or even sometimes imprisonment.
The new vehicle models that have the heads up displays reduce the chances of attentional blink and play a big part in ensuring that drivers can be able to focus their attention on the road and driving at the same time and thus reducing the chances of accidents. With a heads up display, the chances of a driver experiencing divided attention are significantly reduced because it gives the driver an opportunity to pay attention to the traffic rules. I therefore think that this design is very advantageous especially because it reduces the head/eye movements, which helps the driver to focus on the road and this ends up reducing many accidents that may occur because of shifts in attention.
References
Livesey, E. J., Harris, I. M., & Harris, J. a. (2009). Attentional changes during implicit learning: signal validity protects a target stimulus from the attentional blink. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35(2), 408–422. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0014525
