Attention

Question 1

Attention

Answer 1

the means by which we actively process a limited amount of information from the enormous amount of information available through our senses, memories amd other cognitive processes.

includes both conscious and unconscious processes

Question 2

3 purposes of conscious attention

Answer 2

1. Helps in monitoring our interactions with the environment
2. Assist us in linking our past (memories) in our present (sensations) to give us a sense of continuity of experience - basis for personal identity
3. Helps us in controlling and planning for future actions

Question 3

5 functions of attention

Answer 3

Signal detection 
vigilance
 search 
selective attention 
divided attention

Question 4

Signal-Detection theory

Answer 4

how to detect stimulus (signal) among distractors

Hit (present signal detected)
False alarm (present signal not detected)
Miss (absent signal detected)
Correct rejection (absent signal not detected)

Question 5

Vigilance and brain structures involved

Answer 5

A person’s ability to attend to a field of stimulation over a prolonged period.
-might increase by training

amygdala and thalamus

Question 6

feature vs conjuction search

Answer 6

feature search - scan the environment for that feature (blue)

conjunction search - a combination of features; more vulnerable to distractors (Blue and round)

Question 7

Feature-Integration Theory

Answer 7

mental maps representing the given feature across the visual field for every aspect of each stimulus - the features are represented in the maps immediately

during conjunction searches an additional stage conjoins features into an object representation

Question 8

Similarity theory

Answer 8

The difficulty of search task depends on the similarity between target and distractor - more similar mlre difficult

Question 9

Guided search Theory

Answer 9

1. parallel stage - activation of mental representations of all the potential targets
2. serial stage - evaluation of them according to the degree of activation

finally the true targets are chosen from the activated elements

Question 10

cocktail party problem

Answer 10

dichotic presentation - person listens to two sources of information simultaneously each into one ear

Question 11

factors that help to selectively attend (3)

Answer 11

1. Distinctive sensory characteristics of the target speech (pitch pacing..)
2. Sound intensity
3. Location of the Sound Source

Question 12

Broadbent’s Model and its modification

Answer 12

We filter information right after we notice it at the sensory level stimuli that the attentional filter doesn’t permit may never reach the level of perception

Modification : selective filter model - some personally important messages go through

Question 13

Attenuation model

Answer 13

The filter weakens the strength of stimuli other than the target stimulus

Question 14

Late-Filter Model

Answer 14

Stimuli are filtered out only after they have been analyzed for both their physical properties and their meaning

Question 15

A synthesis of early and late filter models

Answer 15

2 processes:
1. Preattentive - used to notice physical sensory characteristics

2. Attentive - working memory needed

Question 16

a dual task

Answer 16

The simultaneous performance of two activities

Question 17

attentional blink

Answer 17

A decrease of performance in speeded dual tasks

Question 18

Capacity models of attention

Answer 18

fixed amount of attention, in a single or multiple pools of attentional resources that we can divide freely

people are much better at dividing their attention when competing tasks are in different modalities - some resources may be specific to the modality

Question 19

factors influencing attention (4)

Answer 19

anxiety
arousal - being tired influences attention
task difficulty
skills

Question 20

3 subfunctions of attention

Answer 20

Alerting - being prepared to attend to an incoming event and maintaining this attention

Orienting - the selection of stimuli to attend to

Executive Attention - monitoring and resolving conflicts that arise among internal processes - thoughts, feelings

Question 21

Inspection time and Choice reaction time

Answer 21

Inspection time is the amount of time it takes you to inspect items and make a decision about them ; shorter time correlates with higher intelligence

Choice reaction time is the amount of time it takes to select one answer among several possibilities; faster correlates with higher IQ

Question 22

PASS model

Answer 22

intelligence consists of functional units that are the basis for specific action:
planning
attention and arousal
simultaneous and successive processing

Question 23

ADHD and main types

Answer 23

Difficulties in focusing attention in ways that enable them to adapt in optimum ways to their environment

Inattention,hyperactivity, impulsiveness, easily distracted, losing things, failure to pay attention to details…

Types: hyperactive-impulsive, inattentive, combination

Question 24

Change blindness

Answer 24

An inability to detect changes in object or scenes that are being viewed

Question 25

Inattentional blindness

Answer 25

Inability to see things that are actually there

Question 26

Habituation vs Sensory adaptation

Answer 26

Habituation - becoming accustomed to a stimulus so that we gradually pay less and less attention to it
accessible to conscious control
in dishabituation, a change in a familiar stimulua prompts us to start noticing it again

Sensory adaptation - a lessening of attention to a stimulus that is not accessible to conscious control; occurs in the sense organ

Question 27

Automatization

Answer 27

transforming a controlled process into an automatic process through practice

Question 28

stroop effect

Answer 28

The delay in reaction time between automatic and controlled processing

Question 29

Mistakes vs Slips

Answer 29

Mistakes are errors in choosing an objective / means of achieving it

Slips are errors in carrying out an intended means for achieving said objective

Question 30

Consciousness

Answer 30

the feeling of awareness and the content of awareness, some of which may be under the focus of attention

we typically are conscious of the products of our thinking but not of the processes

Question 31

preconscious information

Answer 31

Memories we are not using but we could summon when we need them

Question 32

the tip of the tongue phenomenon

Answer 32

Effort to remember something stored in our memory that we can’t retrieve

Question 33

Blindsight

Answer 33

Traces of visual perceptual ability in blind areas of people who have lesions in some areas of the visual cortex