attention Flashcards
what is attention
cognitive function that focuses on some external or internal stimuli, at the expense of fully processing other information
how does attention act as a filter
some neural resources are allocated to analysis of particular information, attenuation of inputs from concurrent channels
what is the cocktail party effect
attention is directed to gossip hear behind you and lose some details from your own conversation, except the salient information
when present different dialogues in each ear, which dialogue is accurately reported
dialogue subject is asked to attend to is accurately reported, and only some information (salient info, not details) of other dialogue can be reported
what information is (a) conscious, (b) preconscious, (c) subliminal
(a) strong enough and payed enough attention to
(b) strong enough, but didn’t pay enough attention to
(c) not strong enough
what information reaches threshold to enter into consciousness
only attended information
what influences the perceptual load (2)
- stimulus complexity
- presentation brevity
endogenous vs exogenous attention
endogenous -> voluntary tasks; consciously direct attention to particular aspect of environment
exogenous -> triggered by random environmental stimuli that attract attention automatically
other names for endogenous and exogenous attention
endogenous attention -> top-down attention
exogenous attention -> bottom-up attention
reaction time of endogenous attention
300 ms to a few seconds
ex of spatial endogenous attention and non-spatial endogenous attention
spatial -> right/left/up/down
non-spatial -> type of info (words/color -> stroop effect)
reaction time of exogenous attention
primed (expected) -> 75 ms
unexpected -> 400 ms (inhibition of return)
what is inhibition of return
impedes response because taking too long, so ‘ignores it’
overt vs covert attention
overt -> orientating head and eyes to stimulus
covert -> no head/eye movements, try to extract information
what does overt attention do to improve perception
aligns visual and auditory information
how did eye tracking technology work
small mirrors glued to eyes, mirrors redirected light to phototracing paper
what is supramodal attention
stimuli in one modality stimulates another modality (improves processing)
types of attention (5)
- endogenous attention
- exogenous attention
- overt attention
- covert attention
- supramodal attention
brain areas that control attention (4)
- IPS
- FEF
- pulvinar nucleus of thalamus
- SC
lesion in right parietal lobe
hemispatial neglect
dominant hemisphere for attention and why
right; RH control both VFs, LH controls RVF
which VF lost in hemispatial neglect
left
what can hemispatial neglect patients see in their LVF
particularly salient stimuli
lesions to frontal eye fields disrupt ability to (3)
- initiate eye movements to targets in contralateral VF
- direct attention to contralateral VF
- task switching/ignoring irrelevant information (can’t do stroop test)
normal fef function
generate saccadic eye movements to locations in visual space that warrant attention
effect of stimulation of FEF (2)
- increases neuronal activity at the visual cortex
- improves performance in attentional tasks
how does attention influence perception
increase of processing in perceptual areas
what is the sprague effect
lesion to left superior colliculus can compensate for hemispatial neglect caused by lesion of right parietal cortex
role of pulvinar nucleus in thalamus
connects superior colliculus to parietal cortex
brain areas activated during (a) endogenous attention, (b) exogenous attention
(a) IPS/SPL and FEF
(b) TPJ and VFC
tasks involving attention activate which brain regions (2)
dorsal parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices
default mode network involves which brain areas (3)
- PCC
- mPFC
- TPJ
central executive network involves which brain areas (3)
- frontoparietal attention regions
- IPS
- vlPFC
effect on extrastriate cortex when direct attention to particular visual-field location
increased activity
what is balint syndrome
patient can’t attend 2 stimuli at the same time regardless of location
balint syndromes (3)
- simultagnosia
- optic ataxia
- oculomotor apraxia
lesion causing balint syndrome
damage to dorsal posterior parietal and lateral occipital cortex
what decides salience (5)
- novelty of stimulus
- physical properties of stimulus (how intense)
- motivation
- emotion
- goal-directed
how is saliency determined in the brain
- incoming signals activate different locations and are given processing priority
- highest level of activity in combination determines what we attend to
what can our perception of what is happening be distorted by (4)
- bias
- habits
- fears
- desires
how does mindfulness influence attention
refines our attention so that we can connect more fully and directly with whatever life brings
how do magicians misdirect audience’s attention
control object’s salience by manipulating audience’s bottom-up and/or top-down attentional control mechanisms
