Steady-state visual evoked potentials and P3 as indicators of the modulation of temporal attention in attentional awakening
Kranczioch, C.1, and Bryant, D.2
1Biomagnetisches Zentrum, Universität Jena; 2Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth
Attentional awakening refers to the finding that observers correctly report a target early in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) sequence less frequently than later in the sequence. The phenomenon has been suggested to be due to a gradual modulation of temporal attention. Here we investigate the mechanisms underlying attentional awakening by studying the steady state visual evoked potential (ssVEP) and the P3 event-related potential (ERP) as markers of the allocation of attention. SsVEP and P3 were recorded in 13 healthy participants. Both ssVEP and ERP were found to predict the behavioural attentional awakening effect, although several indicators suggest a closer relationship between P3 and performance. This suggests that attentional awakening is mainly due to an improved allocation of attention for late targets, whereas the allocation of attention to the RSVP sequence plays a subordinate role.