Attention Flashcards
What is attention?
Psychological processes that select from among all the information available to us at any given moment.
Do we recognize or remember most of what we perceive?
NO
What is selective attention?
- processes a subset of the available attention
- Focuses on some information and ignores the rest.
What is reaction time?
- a measure of the time from the onset of a stimulus to a response.
How does attention effect RT?
- if attention is in the right place, RT will decrease (faster)
- if attention is not in the right place, RT will increase (slower)
What is a cue?
- a stimulus that might indicate where (or what) a subsequent stimulus will be
What are different aspects of a cue?
it can be:
- Valid (correct)
- Invalid (incorrect)
- Neutral (uninformative)
What is stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA)
- the time between the onset of one stimulus and the onset of another
What does the Posner cuing task tell us?
Response times are:
- fastest on valid trials
- middle on neutral cues
- slowest on invalid trials
What is the spotlight model?
attention is in one region of space
moves from one point to the next
areas in the spotlight get extra processing
What is the zoom lens model?
same as the spotlight model except that attended region can grow or shrink.
What is a visual search task?
Look for a target in a display containing distracting elements
What are components in a visual search task?
target: what you’re looking for
distractor: any other stimulus
set size: the number of items through which you must search
What are the three types of search tasks?
orientation- easy
color- easy
conjunction- harder
What is search efficiency?
- RT as a function of set size
- search slope in milliseconds/item
- The larger the search slope (more ms/item), the less efficient the search
What do the slopes tell us about search efficiency?
Some searches are efficient- small slopes
Some searches are inefficient- large slopes
What is a feature search?
Search for a target defined by a single attribute such as a salient color or orientation
What is parallel processing?
processing multiple stimuli at the same time (all-at-once)
What is a serial search?
Searching items one-at-a-time.
What is a conjunction search?
: A search for a target defined by the presence of two or more attributes
No single feature defines the target
What is a guided search?
Search by restricting attention to a subset of items.
How can you restrict a guided search?
color
size
shape
(about 10–20 other types of features)
What is the binding problem?
combining a multiple properties of and object together- look at slide.
What is the feature integration theory?
Theory of visual attention:
- Attention is not required for certain basic object features.
- Attention is required for other features, and for binding features together
What is preattentive processing?
- Before attention
- Parallel (all-at-once)
- Only basic features can be identified
What it attentive processing?
- Uses attention
- Serial (one-at-a-time)
- Complex features and feature combinations
What is the prediction of pre attentive processing?
That preattentive processing only provide features without binding them together.
What is an illusory conjunction?
Incorrect combination of two features in a visual scene.
What is anne trainman take on feature integration theory?
Preattentive processing- based on individual features (color, shape, orientation)
Attentive processing- attention binds features together into a single, whole object. ( green square tilted to the left)** look at slides.
How do binding and attention work together?
- we do not see an object as a whole object until we attend to it.
- without attention, we perceive just a loose collection of features (or parts)
What is Rapid Serial Visual Presentation(RSVP)
An experimental procedure in which stimuli appear one after the other in rapid succession.
Used to study the the timing of attention.
What is the attentional bling?
We often miss the 2nd target if it appears 200–500 ms after the 1st target.
What does attention do to regions of space in the brain?
Attention to a region of space changes activity of neurons in V1.
What does attention do to types of objects?
Attention enhances the processing of a specific type of stimulus.
What is the fusiform face area of the brain?
Responds strongly to faces and less to other kinds of objects
What is the Parahippocampal place area of the brain
Responds strongly to scenes (a.k.a., “places”, like a house, room, street corner, or landscape).
What does attention have to do with Neural processing
Attention can affect which areas of the brain are active.
The areas relevant to whatever is attended become increasingly active.
What components go into the physiology of attention?
Enhancement Strengthen neural responses. Sharper tuning More focused neural tuning functions. Altered tuning Shift neural tuning functions.
What is a visual field defect?
Brain injury that leads to loss of vision in part of the visual field
Usually from damage to optic nerve, optic tract, or primary visual cortex
What is neglect?
Brain injury that leads to no loss of vision, but to a loss of attention to part of the visual field
Often results from damage to the parietal lobe
What does contralesional field mean?
the visual field on the side opposite a brain lesion
What does Ipsilesional field mean?
the visual field on the same side as the brain lesion.
What is object based neglect?
Some neglect patients neglect one side of an object rather than one side of the visual field.
What is extinction?
When a patient with neglect attends to a stimulus on his/her “good” side, he/she cannot attend to a stimulus on the other side.
