Attention

Question 1

How is Attention is best understood as?

Answer 1

in terms of what it does rather than what it is.

Question 2

What is top down attention?

Answer 2

Observer guided controlled attention
Frontal-parietal brain regions (IPS; FEF

Question 3

What is bottom up attention?

Answer 3

Stimuli guided automatic attention
TPJ; VFC

Question 4

What is an example of Attentional shift?

Answer 4

shift between attending to image vs sound

Question 5

What is Endogenous attention?

Answer 5

When an individual chooses what to
pay attention to (goals and intention)
* Top-down processing
* Intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and FEF

Question 6

What is Exogenous attention?

Answer 6

When stimuli in the environment
drives us to pay attention
* Bottom-up processing
* Temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) and VFC

Question 7

What is Spatial neglect?

Answer 7

• Damage to the right hemisphere, ventral parietal cortex
• Deficits in spatial attention and egocentric representations in
  contralateral field of view
• Cannot attend or report stimuli on opposite side of lesion

Can’t draw left half of drawings

Question 8

What is Balint Syndrome?

Answer 8

Bilateral parietal and occipital lobe damage
1. Optic ataxia: problems with grasping or visual
control
2. Oculomotor apraxia: Inability voluntarily shift
gaze
3. Simultanagnosia: Inability to identify or use more than one object in a scene

Total:
* Can’t focus on more than one thing
* Can see local features but struggle to see global features (bigger picture)

Question 9

Explain the tree types of top down attention?
1. Sustained attention
2. Divided attention
3. Selective attention

Answer 9

1. Sustained attention
   * Maintain focus on one input for a long period of time
   * Vigilance
2. Divided attention
   * Shifting attentional focus between tasks
   * Multi-tasking
3. Selective attention
   * Focus on one input and ignore other information

Question 10

Explain the theories of selective attention:
1. Early selection filter models
2. Attenuator
3. Late selection filter models
4. Load theory

Answer 10

1. Early selection filter models: You filter information at the level of perception, before information
   is processed for meaning (semantic analysis)
   * Selected information is processed for meaning, enters awareness
   * Information not selected by the filter decays and is not processed
   for meaning
   (Dichotic listening tasks) Conclusion: : Information is selected for attention, at perception
2. Attenuator:
   An early filter dials down the influence of unattended material
   * Some aspects of unattended material to be processed for meaning
3. Late selection filter models
   Some aspects of unattended material to be processed for meaning
   (Stroop task: Name the color of the “ink”)
   For the interference effect to occur on the Stroop task, you must process the written color name (unattended information) for the meaning
4. Load theory
   Attentional filtering (selection) can occur at different points of processing
   * Filter placement will depend on how much of your
   resources are required for your current task
   * If low resource load, we process non-attended information to a
   later stage
   * If high resource load, we process non-attended information only to an early stage

Question 11

What is the Central resource capacity view way to define load?

Answer 11

One resource pool from which all attention resources are allocated

Question 12

What is the * Multiple resource capacity view way to define load?

Answer 12

• Multiple resources from which attention resources are allocated
• Attentional load depend on the match between the relevant and
  irrelevant information
• E.g., Attentional capacity is reached sooner if relevant and irrelevant information are from the same modality
  So modality dependant