Attention

Question 1

What is William James’ definition of attention?

Answer 1

“It is the taking possession of the mind, in clear and vivid form, one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalisation, concentration of consciousness are its essence.”

Question 2

How does Pashler (1994) describe the challenge of defining attention?

Answer 2

He suggests that no one knows what attention is and that there may not be a singular “it” to understand.

Question 3

What does Allport (1993) argue about theories of attention?

Answer 3

There can be no simple theory of attention, just as there can be no simple theory of thought.

Question 4

How do Johnston and Dark (1986) describe their experience studying attention?

Answer 4

They noted a reluctance to define attention and the ease with which competing theories could accommodate the same data, leading to confusion and inspiration from William James.

Question 5

Are attention and consciousness the same thing?

Answer 5

No, there is a strong case that attention and consciousness are separate phenomena (Koch & Tsuchiya, 2007).

Question 6

What evidence shows attention can occur without consciousness?

Answer 6

Methods like Continuous Flash Suppression (CFS) and studies such as those by Kouider et al. (2006) and Jiang et al. (2006) demonstrate unconscious attentional modulation.

Question 7

What are the two types of attention as processes?

Answer 7

1. Selective attention: The ability to process a subset of available information preferentially.
2. Sustained attention: The ability to maintain high alertness or vigilance.

Question 8

What are the two types of attention as resources?

Answer 8

1. Selective attention: Used to focus on specific inputs.
2. Divided attention: The ability to distribute attention across multiple inputs.

Question 9

What is selective auditory attention, and how is it studied?

Answer 9

It refers to focusing on one auditory input, studied using shadowing or dichotic listening tasks (e.g., Cherry, 1953).

Question 10

What did Cherry (1953) find about participants’ ability to process non-shadowed auditory input?

Answer 10

Participants could tell physical properties like voice gender or sudden tones but could not report content, language, or reversed speech.

Question 11

What is Broadbent’s filter theory of attention?

Answer 11

Information is filtered based on gross physical properties (e.g., pitch, loudness) early in the processing stream.

Question 12

What evidence challenges Broadbent’s filter theory?

Answer 12

1. SCRs to shock-associated words not consciously reported (Von Wright et al., 1975).
2. Participants shadowing meaning even when channels were switched.

Question 13

What is Triesman’s attenuation model?

Answer 13

A flexible filter model where unattended information is attenuated, not completely filtered out, and can be processed if it is relevant.

Question 14

Why do we only process a subset of visual input?

Answer 14

High visual acuity is limited to a small area of the retina, and attention compensates by directing eye movements 2-3 times per second.

Question 15

What is change blindness?

Answer 15

A phenomenon where we fail to notice changes in a scene due to selective visual processing, often exploited by magicians.

Question 16

What did Kuhn & Tatler (2005) find in their study of misdirection?

Answer 16

Participants only noticed disappearing objects if they fixated on them at critical moments, highlighting attentional blindness.

Question 17

What are the differences between parallel and serial visual searches?

Answer 17

1. Parallel searches: Targets defined by single features “pop out” instantly.
2. Serial searches: Targets requiring feature binding are processed one at a time.

Question 18

What is Feature Integration Theory (Triesman, 1988)?

Answer 18

Basic features are analyzed in parallel, but attention acts as “visual glue” to bind features together for coherent perception.

Question 19

What does Posner’s (1980) cueing paradigm reveal about visual attention?

Answer 19

Covert attention can enhance response times without eye movements, with valid cues speeding up and invalid cues slowing down responses.

Question 20

What is automaticity in attention?

Answer 20

Processes that no longer require conscious attention due to extensive practice, such as reading or driving a familiar route.

Question 21

What are action slips, and how do they relate to automaticity?

Answer 21

Mistakes driven by habitual cues, such as taking a usual route home instead of stopping at the store.

Question 22

What factors influence the ability to divide attention?

Answer 22

1. Task similarity (overlapping processes cause interference).
2. Practice level of the operator.
3. Task difficulty.

Question 23

How is attention related to consciousness?

Answer 23

Attention is separable from consciousness and plays a role in processes like feature binding, memory, and intention.

Question 24

What are the key roles of selective attention?

Answer 24

1. Focusing on subsets of sensory input.
2. Facilitating feature binding in visual search tasks.
3. Modulating processing of unattended information based on bottom-up and top-down factors.