Dividing attention in the flash-lag illusion

Abstract

A dual-task paradigm was used to examine the effect of withdrawing attentional and/or cognitive resources from the flash-lag judgment. The flash-lag illusion was larger, and performance in a detection task was generally poorer, under dual-task conditions than in single-task control conditions. These effects were particularly pronounced when decisions in the two tasks were required simultaneously, as compared to when they could be made sequentially. The results suggest that a time consuming process is involved in the flash-lag decision, of such a nature that prolonging the process increases the magnitude of the illusion.