Attention - 7 Flashcards
-phenomen → model → hypothesis
automatic processes
are involuntary and catch your attention, are fast and efficient
controlled processes
conscious attention, slow and effortful
breakthrough
participants remember unattended information
treesmans and broadbents physical filter
Dual filter model. Better than Broadbent’s model. First information passes through the physical filter which weighs the importance of incoming stimuli based on cues, and passes on info to semantic filter, brighter or louder stimulus given more weight than a quieter stimulus. Semantic filter takes in deeper meaning and relevance and chooses which info will be attended to, while rest is discarded. Helps to explain Broadbent’s findings from dichotic listening, and breakthrough and results of Von right
broadbents: Created single filter model of attention based on physical characteristics of stimuli. Sensory information that does not pass filter is eliminated, info that does pass goes to further processing. Explains shadowing paradigm
stroop task
(red but in a blue font) - researchers have to identify font colour and not the word
proportion congruent manipulation
change the ratio of congruent to incongruent trials
set size
the number of items to search through
set size effect
increase in difficult to find object as set size increases
pop out effect
when the object of a visual search is easily found, regardless of set size - easily undecided by colour
-creating designated space for your items makes searching process easier
Attenuation Theory:
Unattended information is not completely filtered
out, as proposed in the single filter model, but rather ‘turned down’ or
attenuated. The attenuator replaces the filter in Broadbent’s model,
allowing all information to pass but with differently assigned weightings
depending on whether the information is physically similar to the target or
not.
Bottleneck
Only a limited amount of attentional information can be
passed on for further processing.
Bottom-Up Processing
The raw data gathered by our senses.
Breakthrough
When relevant information from an unattended channel is heard, such as someone calling your name at a busy party.
Change Blindness
A perceptual phenomenon where a change has
occurred in a visual scene, but the observer does not notice or cannot
identify it.
Cocktail Party Effect
Despite competing background noises, a listener
can focus on a single channel of information (e.g., having a conversation
amidst many other people talking in the background).
Conjunctive Search
When at item does not pop-out during a visual search
task, you must examine each item individually to determine if it is the target.
As set size increases, so does search time.
Covert Orienting
Attending to something without looking at it
thinkingabout something while driving
Dichotic Listening Paradigm
Participants wear headphones where one
message is presented to one ear (that is attended to) and a different
message is presented to the other ear (that is not attended to). The
participant is typically instructed to shadow (immediately repeat the
message) in the attended ear.
subjects were very capable of successful shadowing and successful blocking.
Early Selection Theory
Our attentional filter is located early in the
process. Information is filtered out early before any semantic processing has
occurred. This theory was proposed by Broadbent.
Flashbulb Memories
A highly detailed and vivid ‘snapshot’ of a moment.
Typically occurs during a time when an important piece of news was heard.
Not always as accurate as they may seem.
Inattentional Blindness
Our limited attentional resources can result in missing out (not noticing) some very important or salient things.
Inhibition of Return:
IOR tends to prevent your gaze (and attention) from
revisiting a previously attended location. In turn, this promotes orienting
towards new and previously unsearched locations, which should result in a
more efficient search.
Late Filter Model
Suggests filtering occurs after physical and semantic
analysis and only selected information goes on for further processing due to
limitations in processing capacity.
Pop-Out Effect
The bottom up capture of attention driven by a salient physical property of the target during a visual search task. If a target “pops-
out”, search time is unaffected by set size.
Orienting
The act by which attention moves across a scene.
Overt Attending:
The obvious process of looking to where you are
attending.
Schema
In the context of visual search, it is a representation depicting the
range of plausible objects and likely configurations of those objects within
particular scenes. It can help guide your search for a target.
Selective Attention
Leads to attended items being better remembered
when compared to unattended items
Set Size
The total number of items during a visual search task. This can
vary from trial to trial
Spotlight Model
The idea that attention is like a spotlight, enhancing
things that fall within its focus.
Stroop Paradigm:
A task in which a participant is required to identify the
colour of ink a colour word is written in while ignoring the word itself. For
example, the word red written in blue ink. The participant must say “blue”.
This task proves difficult due to the automatic nature of word reading.
Top-Down Processing
Using a combination of our memories, biases, and
heuristics to interpret information.
Visual Search Paradigm
A task where the participant is required to locate
a target among a set of distractor items.
