Temporal cues and the attentional blink: A further examination of the role of expectancy in sequential object perception

Although perception is typically constrained by limits in available processing resources, these constraints can be overcome if information about environmental properties, such as the spatial location or expected onset time of an object, can be used to direct resources to particular sensory inputs. In this work, we examined these temporal expectancy effects in greater detail in the context of the attentional blink (AB), in which identification of the second of two targets is impaired when the targets are separated by less than about half a second. We replicated previous results showing that presenting information about the expected onset time of the second target can overcome the AB. Uniquely, we also showed that information about expected onset (a) reduces susceptibility to distraction, (b) can be derived from salient temporal consistencies in intertarget intervals across exposures, and (c) is more effective when presented consistently rather than intermittently, along with trials that do not contain expectancy information. These results imply that temporal expectancy can benefit object processing at perceptual and postperceptual stages, and that participants are capable of flexibly encoding consistent timing information about environmental events in order to aid perception.