4. Varieties of Attention: Capacity, Theories and Selection

Question 1

attention

Answer 1

• process of selecting (voluntary/involuntary) a subset of possible information (external vs internal) for further processing
• related to: arousal, awareness, concentration, consciousness
• attention does not translate directly into identification, learning or understanding

Question 2

goal of attention

Answer 2

actively or passively filter through information

Question 3

what does the attentional process combine together

Answer 3

the top-down and bottom-up approach

Question 4

T or F: it is easier to say something is not there than to say it is there.

Answer 4

False, it is harder to say something i not there than to say it is there. To confirm the absence, it takes longer to go through the entire stimulus set

Question 5

Does attention and control reflect unitary systems?

Answer 5

No, they have multiple, distributed components

Question 6

different kinds of attention

Answer 6

1. detection
2. orientation/switching
3. executive

Question 7

attention: detection

Answer 7

captures attention

Question 8

attention: orientation

Answer 8

process one sitmuli, to a next, etc.

Question 9

attention: executive

Answer 9

• where there is lots of stimulation and we need to identify which one is most relevant
• which we let through

Question 10

functions of attention

Answer 10

1. attentional capture/signla detection
2. selective attention/attentional focus
3. divided attention/split attention
   if something has a fixed RT, usually indicates it’s automatic: the longer the search, the higher the RT (refer to powerpoint slide 11)

Question 11

attentional capture

Answer 11

• detection of the appearance of a particular stimulus including vigilance and search

Question 12

attentional capture: visual search paradigm

Answer 12

participants are asked to scan a display in search a particular target while trying to ignore distracted
- refer to line example on page 21 of notebook

Question 13

selective attention: the cocktail party

Answer 13

scenario
- at a cocktail party and several people are talking together, how can one talker be separated from the others
general approach
- when participants are presented with 2+ stimuli; examine participants’ ability to process and response to one 1 stimuli
- how well do we filter stimuli?
- what happens to unattended stimuli?
TRYING TO DETECT STIMULI THROUGH NOISE (information theory)

Question 14

dichotic listening paradigm

Answer 14

• a listener continuously repeats what is presented in an ear
• this ensures that the material is attended to
  HOWEVER
• dichotic presentation allows the researcher to present different auditory information to each ear
• typically uses earphones (cancels out the exterior noise)

Question 15

dichotic listening paradigm - attention and speech recognition: does pitch play a role in what we understand

Answer 15

YES
- two female voices = harder to distinguish than 1 male and 1 female
- similar to visual task (lines)

Question 16

early selection theory: Broadbent (1958)

Answer 16

refer to notebook page 22
IMPORTANT

Question 17

attenuated select theory: Treisman

Answer 17

refer to notebook page 23
IMPORTANT

Question 18

late selection theory: Deutsch-Norman

Answer 18

refer to notebook page 23
IMPORTANT

Question 19

inattentional blindness

Answer 19

• gorilla study
• radiologist study
• refer to slide 39 of powerpoint

Question 20

change blindness

Answer 20

• phenomenon where a person viewing a visual scene apparently fails to detect large changes in the scene
• does this phenomenon have external validity?
• refer to slide 41 of powerpoint for example

Question 21

failures of selective attention: Stroop effect

Answer 21

• response conflict increase RT and lowers ACC when participants asked to name colour that a word is printed in neutral; congruent; incongruent
• interferences results from automatic processing of meaning of word
• also been found for emotional words, such that those with certain psychopathologies, show greater stroop for negative words

Question 22

Flanker task

Answer 22

context:
- participants presented with centrally presented target which they must identify
results
- when target is surrounded by flankers from opposite response set, RTs were slower and ACC was lower than when flankers were associated with the same response
- relates to Gestalt principles
- we process both locally and globally
- flanker dependent on
1. spatial separation
2. orientation
3. asymmetry

Question 23

Flanker task: spatial separation

Answer 23

when stimuli are presented more than 1 degree aware from the target, effect is reduced

Question 24

Flanker task: orientation

Answer 24

effect is also observed when flanking words presented above and below target

Question 25

Flanker task: asymmetry

Answer 25

flankers on left have more effect on performance than those on the right (in cultures where we read from left to right)