Attention Flashcards
Define
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
a disorder marked by an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development.
Define
Attentional capture
the phenomenon in which attention is involuntarily directed towards a target stimulus based on the characteristics of that stimulus
Define
Attenuation model of attention
a model of selective attention proposed by Anne Treisman, proposed as a means to explain how unattended stimuli sometimes came to be processed in a more rigorous manner than what Broadbent’s filter model could account for. Claims that instead of a filter which barred unattended inputs from ever entering awareness, it was a process of attenuation
Define
Attenuator
a device consisting of an arrangement of resistors which reduces the strength of a radio or audio signal.
Define
Automatic processing
capable of occurring without the need for attention, and the awareness of the initiation or operation of the process, and without drawing upon general processing resources or interfering with other concurrent thought processes
Define
Balint’s syndrome
a rare manifestation of visual and spatial difficulties due to the parietal lobe lesions
Define
Binding problem
the problem of how brains segregate elements in complex patterns of sensory input so that they are allocated to discrete “objects”
Define
Bottleneck model
any model of attention that assumes the existence of a limited-capacity channel (typically with a capacity of one item) at some specific stage of human information processing. In late-selection theories, this channel occurs after stimulus identification
Define
Change blindness
a perceptual phenomenon that occurs when a change in a visual stimulus is introduced and the observer does not notice it
Define
Cocktail party effect
the phenomenon of the brain’s ability to focus one’s auditory attention (an effect of selective attention in the brain) on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli, as when a partygoer can focus on a single conversation in a noisy room
Define
Conjunction search
a visual search process that focuses on identifying a previously requested target surrounded by distractors possessing one or more common visual features with the target itself
Define
Covert attention
paying attention without moving the eyes
Define
Dichotic listening
a psychological test commonly used to investigate selective attention and the lateralization of brain function within the auditory system
Define
Dictionary unit
A component of Treisman’s attenuation theory of attention. This processing unit contains stored words and thresholds for activating the words
Define
Distraction
a thing that prevents someone from concentrating on something else.
Define
Divided attention
a type of simultaneous attention that allows us to process different information sources and successfully carry out multiple tasks at a time
Define
Dopamine Beta Hydroxylase (DBH) gene
an enzyme responsible for the conversion of dopamine into noradrenaline. Alteration of the dopamine/noradrenaline levels can result in hyperactivity
Define
Dopamine Transporter (DAT1) gene
an established genetic risk factor for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It mediates the reuptake of dopamine from the synapse
Define
Early selection model
proposed by Broadbent, posits that stimuli are filtered, or selected to be attended to, at an early stage during processing
Define
Feature integration theory
a theory of attention developed in 1980 by Anne Treisman and Garry Gelade that suggests that when perceiving a stimulus, features are “registered early, automatically, and in parallel, while objects are identified separately” and at a later stage in processing
Define
Feature search
a visual search process that focuses on identifying a previously requested target amongst distractors that differ from the target by a unique visual feature such as color, shape, orientation, or size
Define
Filter model of attention
posits that stimuli are filtered, or selected to be attended to, at an early stage during processing
Define
Fixation
the state in which an individual becomes obsessed with an attachment to another human, an animal, or an inanimate object
Define
Focused attention stage
The second stage of feature integration theory, where a subject combines individual features of an object to perceive the whole object.

