Beyond the Blink: How Athletes Experience the Attentional Blink

The attentional blink (AB) is a robust cognitive phenomenon reflecting the temporal limits of human attention, characterized by a reduced ability to detect a second target (T2) shortly after identifying a first target (T1) in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream. Although widely replicated across various stimuli and populations, the magnitude of the AB may differ among individuals due to experience, expertise, or attentional control. Recent findings suggest that certain groups, such as athletes, demonstrate enhanced attentional allocation and working memory performance, potentially influencing their susceptibility to the AB. The present study aims to examine whether athletes experience a reduced attentional blink compared to non-athletes, hypothesizing that sports training enhances attentional efficiency and resistance to temporal processing limitations. Forty participants will complete an RSVP task in which two numerical targets are embedded within rapid streams of letters. The temporal lag between T1 and T2 will vary to measure the AB window. Accuracy in identifying both targets will serve as the primary dependent variable. This research seeks to deepen understanding of selective attention and its modulation through cognitive and physical training, with implications for optimizing performance and preventing attentional failures in real-world contexts.