Attention Flashcards
attention
behavioral or cognitive process of concentrating on information, requires cognitive effort and is associated with consciousness or awareness
focused attention
ability to concentrate on a target stimulus
divided attention
ability to process different info and multitask
what is the main difference between brain areas required for focused vs divided attention
divided attention requires more pre-frontal cortex and parietal regions (because it requires more cognitive attention)
3 theories of attention
1 - bottleneck
2 - single resource pool
3 - multiple resource pool
bottleneck theory
- there is a continual flow of info that is impeded at some point by a filter that will decide what will be processed
- earliest theory
- doesn’t explain dual tasks
single resource theory
- we have one pool of attentional resources and can do more than one task if we don’t exceed our pools capacity
- capacity is influenced by level of arousal
multiple resource theory
- there are multiple attention mechanisms (resource pools) each related to a specific activity
4 resources pools of the multiple resource theory
1) input
2) output
3) stage of info processing
4) codes
* we are more able to multi task if we do things in different boxes
input = _______ processing
sensory
output = _________ processing
motor
stage of info processing concerns
perception, decision making, and execution
codes = ____________ processing
cognitive/memory
4 factors that influence attention demands
1 - environment and task complexity
2 - skill level of performed
3 - number of cues
4 - arousal
arousal
level of activation/excitement of a person’s CNS
anxiety
that way a person interprets a situation and the resulting emotions
what principle describes the influence of arousal on performance?
inverted U principle
inverted U principle
the principle that increased arousal improves performance only to a point, with degraded performance as arousal increases further
the zone of optimal performance varies based on the _________________
person, task, and environment
when our arousal level is low, our attentional focus is _______. As it gets closer to the optimal zone of performance, our attentional focus becomes more __________.
broad, narrow
* this allows us to focus on relevant cues
what happens when arousal levels continue to increase beyond optimal level of performace?
perceptual narrowing
what is the issue with perceptual narrowing
individual may becomes so focused that they miss important perceptual cues
selective attention
- ability to maintain a behavioral or cognitive set in the face of distraction
- ability to attend to meaningful things and ignore others
focused attention
ability to respond discretely to specific visual, auditory, or tactile stimuli
internal focus of attention
within the body
“keep your balance by stabilizing your body”
external focus of attention
outside the body
“keep your balance by stabilizing the platform”
is internal or external focus of attention better for motor learning and transfer?
external
alternating attention
the ability of mental flexibility that allows individuals to shift their focus of attention and move between tasks having different cognitive requirements
which involves more cues: broad or narrow attention
broad
stepping over an object is what kind of attention
narrow external
focusing on knee motion during running is what kind of attention
narrow internal
developing a strategy of how to run a mud run is what kind of attention
broad internal
running in busy traffic is what kind of attention
broad external
divided attention
ability to respond simultaneously to multiple tasks or task demands
