Losing track of the present to remember the past: failing to see target 2 improves long term memory for target 1 in an attentional blink task

The attentional blink (AB) is a deficit in detection of a second target (T2) stimulus when it is presented within soon after a first target (T1) stimulus within a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of stimuli. One explanation for the AB deficit is that overinvestment of cognitive resources in T1 leaves too few resources available to process T2. Here, we explored whether the specific nature of this overinvestment had to do with memory encoding. That is, does encoding a memory for T1 prevent one from seeing T2? To answer this question, an AB task was developed that used trial unique images of everyday objects for T1 stimuli. Participants were cued with the name of the pictured object in the T1 image prior to the RSVP on each trial. T2 was always an image of a stapler. At the end of each trial, participants reported whether they had seen T1 and T2. Later, memory was tested for T1 images. Participants exhibited better memory for T1 images that had appeared on trials when they had failed to detect T2 (blink trials) than for T1 images that had appeared on trials when they succeeded in detecting T2 (non-blink trials). In other words, encoding a memory of T1 resulted in a failure to perceive T2. These results suggest that memory can serve to stabilize perceptual representations. A feature that is advantageous in most natural situations, but detrimental when perceptual representation must be updated quickly with incoming stimuli during an AB task.