Abstract
When attention is engaged in a task, unexpected events in the visual scene may go undetected, a phenomenon known as inattentional blindness (IB). At what stage of information processing must attention be engaged for IB to occur? Although manipulations that tax visuospatial attention can induce IB, the evidence is more equivocal for tasks that engage attention at late, central stages of information processing. Here, we tested whether IB can be specifically induced by central executive processes. An unexpected visual stimulus was presented during the retention interval of a working memory task that involved either simply maintaining verbal material or rearranging the material into alphabetical order. The unexpected stimulus was more likely to be missed during manipulation than during simple maintenance of the verbal information. Thus, the engagement of executive processes impairs the ability to detect unexpected, task-irrelevant stimuli, suggesting that IB can result from central, amodal stages of processing.
Article PDF
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Ardekani, B. A., Choi, S. J., Hossein-Zadeh, G. A., Porjesz, B., Tanabe, J. L., Lim, K. O., ET AL. (2002). Functional magnetic resonance imaging of brain activity in the visual oddball task.Cognitive Brain Research,14, 347–356.
Awh, E., &Jonides, J. (2001). Overlapping mechanisms of attention and spatial working memory.Trends in Cognitive Sciences,5, 119–126.
Baddeley, A. (1986).Working memory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Clarendon Press.
Chun, M. M., &Marois, R. (2002). The dark side of visual attention.Current Opinion in Neurobiology,12, 184–189.
Corbetta, M., &Shulman, G. L. (2002). Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in the brain.Nature Reviews Neuroscience,3, 201–215.
Cornoldi, C., Rigoni, F., Venneri, A., &Vecchi, T. (2000). Passive and active processes in visuo-spatial memory: Double dissociation in developmental learning disabilities.Brain & Cognition,43, 117–120.
D’Esposito, M., Postle, B. R., Ballard, D., &Lease, J. (1999). Maintenance versus manipulation of information held in working memory: An event-related fMRI study.Brain & Cognition,41, 66–86.
D’Esposito, M., Postle, B. R., &Rypma, B. (2000). Prefrontal cortical contributions to working memory: Evidence from event-related fMRI studies.Experimental Brain Research,133, 3–11.
Han, S. H., &Kim, M. S. (2004). Visual search does not remain efficient when executive working memory is working.Psychological Science,15, 623–628.
Koivisto, M., Hyönä, J., &Revonsuo, A. (2004). The effects of eye movements, spatial attention, and stimulus features on inattentional blindness.Vision Research,44, 3211–3221.
Lavie, N. (2005). Distracted and confused? Selective attention under load.Trends in Cognitive Sciences,9, 75–82.
Lavie, N., Hirst, A., de Fockert, J. W., &Viding, E. (2004). Load theory of selective attention and cognitive control.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,133, 339–354.
Luck, S. J., Hillyard, S. A., Mouloua, M., &Hawkins, H. L. (1996). Mechanisms of visual-spatial attention: Resource allocation or uncertainty reduction?Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,22, 725–737.
Mack, A., &Rock, I. (1998).Inattentional blindness. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Moore, C. M., &Egeth, H. (1997). Perception without attention: Evidence of grouping under conditions of inattention.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,23, 339–352.
Most, S. B., Scholl, B. J., Clifford, E. R., &Simons, D. J. (2005). What you see is what you set: Sustained inattentional blindness and the capture of awareness.Psychological Review,112, 217–242.
Most, S. B., Simons, D. J., Scholl, B. J., & Chabris, C. F. (2000). Sustained inattentional blindness: The role of location in the detection of unexpected dynamic events.Psyche,6(14) Available at psyche. cs.monash.edu.au/v6/psyche-6-14-most.html.
Most, S. B., Simons, D. J., Scholl, B. J., Jimenez, R., Clifford, E., &Chabris, C. F. (2001). How not to be seen: The contribution of similarity and selective ignoring to sustained inattentional blindness.Psychological Science,12, 9–17.
Neisser, U., &Becklen, R. (1975). Selective looking: Attending to visually specified events.Cognitive Psychology,7, 480–494.
Newby, E. A., &Rock, I. (1998). Inattentional blindness as a function of proximity to the focus of attention.Perception,27, 1025–1040.
Pashler, H., &Badgio, P. C. (1985). Visual attention and stimulus identification.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,11, 105–121.
Petrides, M. (2000). The role of the mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in working memory.Experimental Brain Research,133, 44–54.
Postle, B. R., Berger, J. S., &D’Esposito, M. (1999). Functional neuroanatomical double dissociation of mnemonic and executive control processes contributing to working memory performance.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,96, 12959–12964.
Reynolds, J. H., Pasternak, T., & Desimone, R. (2000). Attention increases sensitivity of V4 neurons.Neuron,26, 703–714.
Simons, D. J., &Chabris, C. F. (1999). Gorillas in our midst: Sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events.Perception,28, 1059–1074.
Spinks, J. A., Zhang, J. X., Fox, P. T., Gao, J.-H., &Hai Tan, L. (2004). More workload on the central executive of working memory, less attention capture by novel visual distractors: Evidence from an fMRI study.NeuroImage,23, 517–524.
Strayer, D. L., Drews, F. A., &Johnston, W. A. (2003). Cell phoneinduced failures of visual attention during simulated driving.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied,9, 23–32.
Todd, J. J., Fougnie, D., &Marois, R. (2005). Visual short-term memory load suppresses temporo-parietal junction activity and induces inattentional blindness.Psychological Science,16, 965–972.
Tsukiura, T., Fujii, T., Takahashi, T., Xiao, R. Inase, M., Iijima, T., et al. (2001). Neuroanatomical discrimination between manipulating and maintaining processes involved in verbal working memory: A functional MRI study.Cognitive Brain Research,11, 13–21.
Yi, D. J., Woodman, G. F., Widders, D., Marois, R., &Chun, M. M. (2004). Neural fate of ignored stimuli: Dissociable effects of perceptual and working memory load.Nature Neuroscience,7, 992–996.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This work was supported by NSF Grant 0094992 and NIMH Grant R01 MH70776 to R.M.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fougnie, D., Marois, R. Executive working memory load induces inattentional blindness. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 14, 142–147 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194041
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194041