Attention Flashcards
What is referred to when talking about detection?
Either spotlight or object-based attention
What is referred to when talking about filtering and selection?
Selective attention: being able to focus on a task at hand and ignore task irrelevant stimuli
What is referred to when talking about cognitive load?
how many cognitive resources you need to use to complete a task
What is referred to when talking about information search?
feature search and conjunction search
What is referred to when talking about divided attention?
Change blindness and inattentional blindness
What is referred to when talking about change blindness?
failure of attention: when an observer does not detect a change in a visual stimulus typically when there has been some visual disruption (grey screen)
What is referred to when talking about inattentional blindness?
failure of attention: he event in which an individual fails to recognise an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight (the gorilla experiment)
What are the differences between change blindness and inattentional blindness?
change blindness requires comparison to memory but in-attentional blindness does not, instead it simply is not seeing something that’s there
What is meant by attention?
The means by which we actively process a limited amount of information from the enormous amount of information available through our senses, memories and cognitive processes.
What are two theories that attempt to explain filtering and selection (selective attention)?
Broadbent’s filter theory/ model
Attenuation theory / model
What are 4 types of attention?
covert (looking out side of eye)
divided (more than one thing)
selective (focusing on one thing)
overt (moving eyes to look at something)
When talking about detection, what are the 2 ways of focusing attention?
Spotlight attention
Object-based attention
What evidence was suggested for the theory of spotlight attention?
When directed to focus on one area, attention improved on a task
What evidence was suggested for the theory of object-based attention?
When directed to focus on one area, attention was best when in that area OR secondly when on the same object (the same object advantage)
When should you use spotlight attention?
for static scenes with few objects
When should you use object based attention?
in dynamic moving environments
What are the stages of Broadbent’s filter model of processing?
sensory memory
selective filter
decision of response (higher levels of processing)
LTM
What’s the difference between Broadbent’s filter theory and the attenuation theory?
Broadbent’s has a selective filter that stops/ blocks irrelevant information (information isn’t processed AT ALL from the inattentive ear)
Attenuation theory: filter is replaced by an attenuator- eg. nothing is ‘blocked’ but not everything is attended to equally (threshold- cocktail party effect of hearing your name)
What happened in the Dichotic listening task?
Only the attended speech was remembered except 1/3 of participants heard their own name in the unattended ear
What have late selection models found about unattended messages?
Although they may not be attended to they do influence the meaning of the attended message
What is the difference between cognitive resources and cognitive load?
Cognitive resources are what you have but cognitive load is how much of those resources you need to use.
When does late selection occur?
When there is less cognitive load and more resources to attend to irrelevant information.
When does early selection occur?
When there is more cognitive load and less resources to attend to irrelevant information.
What are the 2 theories that argue for or against multiple pools of cognitive resources?
Kahneman’s Central Capacity theory (single pool e.g. central executive functions)
Wicken’s Multiple resource theory (separate pools for visual and auditory modalities)
What is Automatic processing?
processing that occurs without attention, and uses only a small amount of cognitive resources
What experiment demonstrated the effects of automatic processing?
consistent mapping condition (participants didn’t have to pay very close attention when it was automatic)
What experiment demonstrated the effects of controlled processing?
varied mapping condition (participants had to pay very close attention)
What was the conclusion of the varied vs consistent mapping task (automatic vs controlled processing)?
practice can only automatise some tasks
What are saccades?
rapid shifts of the eyes
What are fixations?
short pauses on points of interest
What are exogenous factors?
bottom-up
What are 2 examples of exogenous factors?
stimulus salience (areas that stand out) gist (overall view of scene)
What are endogenous factors?
top-down
What are 2 examples of endogenous factors?
scene schema (what we think we should see- what fits) goal-directed (what we are looking for)
What are 2 types of information searches?
feature searches (automatic) conjunction searches (top-down, controlled & conscious)
What are 7 factors that influence our ability to pay attention?
task difficulty (cognitive load) anxiety arousal task type (modalities) skills (experience) search strategy processing strategy
What are dictionary units?
The triggers that when gone through Treisman’s attenuation model of attention, ‘ping’ your attention and lower the threshold to allow them further into your short term memory
What does LGN stand for?
lateral geniculate nucleus
What is the LGN?
The relay centre in the thalamus for the visual pathway:
takes input from the optic nerve to the occipital lobe
