Visser, T., Bischof, W. F., and Di Lollo, V. (1999). Attentional switching in spatial and non-spatial domains: evidence from the attentional blink. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 458-469.

When two targets are displayed in rapid succession, separated by temporal lags, accuracy is nearly perfect for the first target but substantially reduced for the second (attentional blink, AB). In some studies, accuracy is lowest at the shortest lag (lag 1) and improves monotonically thereafter. In other studies, a U-shaped pattern is found over lags, thus exhibiting lag-1 sparing. Our literature review indicates that lag-1 sparing occurs onlywhen a significant attentional switch between targets is not required. The review also indicates that lag-1 sparing and the AB are independent phenomena. We conclude that lag-1 sparing is based on endogenously-controlled peripheral input filters, and that the AB arises from the activity of exogenously-controlled central modules.

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