Attention

Question 1

Attention

Answer 1

operational definition issues–> easy to describe, difficult to measure

Question 2

selective attention

Answer 2

allows us to choose from a multitude of choices what we want to attend to

Question 3

divided attention

Answer 3

ability to divide, share, allocate attention to two or more tasks simultaneously, including sensory, cognitive and motor tasks

Question 4

vigilance

Answer 4

capacity to maintain sufficient attentional alertness in monotonous tasks of long duration in which number of stimuli to react is low

Question 5

sustained

Answer 5

information flow is fast and requires subject to perform continuous active processing

Question 6

Broadbent’s model of selective attention

Answer 6

filter model; attention was set up to process info from one source “a single channel”

Question 7

dichotic listening tasks

Answer 7

attend to (shadow) info from attended side & ignore info from unattended side–> info from unattended side lost; delineates limitation of attention

Question 8

cocktail party effect

Answer 8

we can attend to a conversation with a number of conversations going on around us

Question 9

Early selection models (broadbent)

Answer 9

stimulus does not need to be completely perceptually analyzed & encoded before selection or rejection; ignored stimuli are ‘gated’ or blocked

Question 10

cocktail party problem

Answer 10

hear your name from across the room; messes up the early selection model

Question 11

Treisman’s Model of Attenuation (Research)

Answer 11

tap of every time target word occurs in attended or unattended channel–> tapping occurs less frequently in unattended channel, but it still occurs; words conditioned with mild shock elicit GSR response in unattended channel

Question 12

difficulty for early selection model

Answer 12

information in unattended channels is weakened (attenuated) but not fully blocked

Question 13

Late Selection Models

Answer 13

attended & ignored information processed equally until stage of meaning attached; THUS should be no difference in attended & unattended target words bc all processed fully

Question 14

Problems with late selection models

Answer 14

middle selection a la Triesman most dominant: attention to specific stimuli modifies representations in visual cortex–thus not all stimuli processed equally–even at earliest stages of cortical processing

Question 15

divided attention

Answer 15

dual task deficit; central capacity theory; multiple resources theory; automatic vs effortful processing

Question 16

dual task deficit

Answer 16

combining two tasks leads to worse performance on both compared to performing one alone; tasks interfere more when similar (two verbal), when more complex

Question 17

can you improve the dual task deficit?

Answer 17

yes, practice allows for better performance

Question 18

central capacity theory

Answer 18

central pool of resources distributed according to task demands; if two tasks demand resources from central reserve, performance on both deteriorates

Question 19

multiple resources theory

Answer 19

specific pools of attentional resources for different activities

Question 20

automatic vs effortful processing

Answer 20

supervisory attentional system

Question 21

Norman & Shallice’s 1980 Supervisory attention system model

Answer 21

perceptual system–> trigger database–> supervisory attentional system (contention scheduling–> schema control units)–> effector system

Question 22

trigger databse

Answer 22

putting into context; triggers things we are familiar with that are related to the information that came in the perceptual system

Question 23

schema control units

Answer 23

over-learned responses

Question 24

contention scheduling

Answer 24

which are more important? what do i need to pay attention to?

Question 25

supervisory attentional system

Answer 25

organizing the contention scheduling (allows them to exist in some degree in consciousness and get organized)

Question 26

effector system

Answer 26

behavior; what i do/attune to

Question 27

Speed of processing

Answer 27

speed with which a person is able to process information; influenced by arousal

Question 28

what is a core deficit of TBI?

Answer 28

speed of processing; symbol-digit, choice reaction time, color naming

Question 29

is choice reaction time or simple reaction time more impaired with speed of processing?

Answer 29

choice reaction time

Question 30

Speed of processing & attention

Answer 30

interaction with task complexity and impact of speed of processing deficits

Question 31

Neural systems of attention

Answer 31

auditory selective attention; visual selective attention

Question 32

auditory selective attention

Answer 32

dichotic listening task–> ERP enlarged toward attended ear, 90ms sensory evoked wave (N100); early filtering taking place (meaning cant be applied that rapidly)

Question 33

visual selective attention

Answer 33

v4 neurons more active under conditions of attention

Question 34

Location of arousal

Answer 34

brainstem–> reticular formation

Question 35

location of preattentive selection

Answer 35

cortical excitability mediates early stimulus processing; superior frontal cortex, inferior parietal cortex, superior temporal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex

Question 36

location of selective attention

Answer 36

prefrontal/cingulate cortex & posterior cortex (sensory

Question 37

prefrontal/cingulate cortex in selective attention

Answer 37

active in variety of tasks (planning/motor)

Question 38

posterior cortex (sensory) in selective attention

Answer 38

parietal important for movement/location tasks; occipital-temporal cortex for color/form distinctions

Question 39

top down attention

Answer 39

we are driving the attentional network–> we want to pay attention to something else

Question 40

Neglect

Answer 40

neglect for contralesional space; most common following right hemi parietal lobe damage (neglect of right-sided space relatively rare)

Question 41

neglect & left hemisphere damage

Answer 41

items; more lateralized

Question 42

neglect & right hemisphere damage

Answer 42

whole/gestalt; more distributed; plays a role in both hemispheres

Question 43

Treisman’s Middle Selection Model

Answer 43

the filter only attenuates (weakens) the unselected information, which makes it less likely but not impossible to be processed at a higher cortical level