Attentional Blink Test — Free RSVP Task Measuring Second-Target Misses

The attentional blink, named by Raymond, Shapiro and Arnell in 1992, is the tendency to miss a second target that appears 0.2 to 0.5 seconds after you have caught a first one in a rapid stream. Your eyes stay open, but attention briefly blinks and the information does not get in — revealing how quickly attentional resources recover once they have been used.

In each trial, 18 letters flash by at 0.1 seconds apiece. You remember the one letter shown in white (the first target) and then judge whether a gray X (the second target) appeared afterward. The X is present in only half of the trials and sits 1, 2, 3, 5 or 8 positions after the first target. Each position has 6 trials with an X and 6 without, giving 60 main trials after 8 practice trials.

The typical curve shows the X being seen well in the position right after the first target (lag 1) and missed most often at positions 2 and 3. The depth of that dip shows how firmly attention is closed while it processes one item.

The headline score is the percentage of X-present-or-absent judgments you got right on trials where you correctly remembered the first target. The key measure, blink depth, is accuracy at position 8 minus the mean accuracy at positions 2 and 3, in percentage points: 5 or less is described as shallow, under 20 as mild, under 40 as typical and 40 or more as deep. Lag-1 sparing is accuracy at position 1 minus the mean at positions 2 and 3.

If first-target accuracy falls below 70%, too many trials missed the white letter itself and the blink depth is flagged as low in reliability. In that case, adjust screen brightness and viewing distance and try again before reading the result. The false alarm rate — saying an X was present when it was not — is also shown; a high value means accuracy may have been inflated by guessing.

Because the letters change every 0.1 seconds, a low screen refresh rate or dropped frames can prevent stimuli from being drawn properly. Close other apps, turn off power-saving mode, and rely on the trend across repeated measurements on the same device.

The attentional blink tends to deepen when you are tense and shallow when you are relaxed. On short-sleep or tired days, first-target accuracy drops first; caffeine can help by raising alertness, but too much may add false alarms. The blink generally becomes longer and deeper with age, and bright ambient light or small letters make the white letter harder to recognize.

Soundary saves your results and shows the change from your previous test. Repeating every one to two weeks on the same device under similar lighting and at a similar time, and following the trend in blink depth and first-target accuracy, helps you tell condition-related fluctuation from steady change. This is a self-check, not a diagnostic tool.

If first-target accuracy keeps falling below 70% or blink depth stays very deep even after you are rested and the screen is set up well, and in daily life you often miss fast-moving information such as subtitles, signs or conversation, consider discussing an attention assessment with a professional.