Reading Strategy as a Means of Attention Maintenance during Perceptual Task Solving

Abstract

The article presents a study of topdown influences on attention dynamics in conditions of brief successive exposure of visual stimuli (BSEVS, 10 st/sec). In the task of recognition of two target stimuli in the flow of BSEVS, recognition of the second target stimulus (T2) is deteriorated if it is exposed in the interval of 180­450 msec after the first target stimulus (T1).This temporary deterioration is called attentional blink (AB) (Raymond et al., 1992). If a sequence of stimulus constitutes a word, AB disappears. This advantage may be referred to a class of effects of word superiority (EWS) (Falikman, 2001). We have tested the hypotheses that mechanisms of EWS are strategy of reading and/or familiarity with a word. The results speak in favor of strategy of reading but leave a possibility of additional mechanisms.