Attention and Consciousness Flashcards
This patient has Balint’s syndrome, a severe disturbance of visual attention and awareness that results in only one or a small subset of available objects being perceived at any O…… time,
and these being M……….. in space.
One
Mislocalized
The patient can “see” each of the objects presented by the doctor- the comb, the spoon, and even the numbers on the clock.
But he fails to see them all T…………………. and cannot accurately describe their L…………….. with respect to each other or to himself.
Together
Locations
The fact that we are C………………………… aware of
only a S…………………………… of the vast amount of information available to our sensory systems from moment to moment.
Consciously
Small bit
In this chapter we investigate the mechanisms of attention and awareness. First, we will learn that attention involves both
T……-D………… (V…………………),
goal-directed processes and
B…………….-U…. (R…………………..)
stimulus-driven mechanism, and that they are in dynamic competition for control of the momentary focus of attention.
Top-down (voluntary)
Bottom-up (reflexive)
These effects of attention influence the way information is P………………… in the brain,
and can occur E………. during sensory processing. Widespread brain networks interact to enable us to
attend to relevant events and, importantly, to ignore those that are irrelevant.
Processed
Early
We can C………………..
the focus of our attention.
Control
In this chapter we focus on the mechanisms of selective attention- those cognitive processes that enable organisms to
P……………………. R……………………. I……………… thoughts,
or actions while ignoring irrelevant or distracting ones.
Process Relevant Inputs
We can divide attention into two broad categories:
(a) voluntary and
(b) reflexive.
Voluntary attention, a top-down,
G………………- directed influence,
is our ability to
I………………….. attend to something.
Reflexive attention, a bottom-up, stimulus-driven influence, describes the phenomena in which a sensory event captures our attention.
Goal
Intentionally
In 1894, Hermann von Helmholtz constructed a screen on which L………………..
were painted at various distances from the center.
Letters
Helmholtz noted that the screen was too large to view without moving the eyes.
Nonetheless, even when he kept his eyes fixed right at the center of the screen, he could
D………………………… I……….. A………………………
where he would pay attention; that is, he made use of something we now refer to as
C………………….. A………………………….
Decide In Advance
Cover Attention
By covert we mean that the location to which he directed his attention could be
D…………………………..
from the location at which he was locking.
Different
Through these covert shifts of attention, Helmholtz observed that, during the
B………………………period of illumination,
he could P………………………………….
letters located within the focus of his attention
B…………………………. than letters that fell
O……………………. T…………………. F…………………………
of his attention, even when his eyes remained at the
C………………………….
of the screen.
Brief
Perceive
Better
Outside The Focus
Center
“These experiments demonstrated, so it seems to me, that by a
V…………………………. K…………………….
of intention, even without eye movements, and without changes of accommodation, one can concentrate attention on the sensation from a particular part of our peripheral nervous system and at the same time exclude attention from all other parts.”
Voluntary Kind
British psychologist E. C. Cherry (1953) examined the so-called
C……………………. P………………….. E…………………….
Cocktail Party Effect.
By S…………………………………… attending, y
ou can perceive the signal of interest amid the louder noise, and remain charming in a difficult social context.
Selectively
These changes in
Global…………….. S………………….. O……….A……………………… can be related to specific neurons in the brain and are reflected by changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG),
the S……………. V……………………….
fluctuations that accompany neuronal activity in the brains of all animals.
Global State Or Arousal
Small Voltage
The EEG is a clear indicator of the state of global arousal and sleep in normal subjects; one can
P…………………………….
of change from wakefulness to sleep and to different stages of sleep by viewing the EEG alone.
Pinpoint
Attentive behaviors have a
H………………………………… structure.
At the most global level are states of alertness such as sleep and wakefulness
W…………………………..
includes more and less attentive and more and less selective states:
D………………… A………………….. and
H………………………..
such as when a life-threatening situation arises.
Hierarchical
Wakefulness
Drowsiness Alertness
Hyperalertness
At a finer level of description are levels within each
Awake
global state of awareness; here we reach levels of description that are appropriate for considering
S…………………………….,
as with the cocktail party effect described in this chapter.
Awake
Selectivity
For instance, finding that neurons are more active when an animal is
E………………………..
performing a task, as compared with drowsily watching stimuli, might be an example only of a nonspecific state difference induced by the arousal of the task, and
N…………… E……………………………..
of neuronal mechanisms of selective processing.
Excitedly
Not Evidence
Cherry investigated the effect by providing
C…………………………..
speech inputs to the two ears of a normal subject through headphones
(D…………………… L………………………..).
In different conditions he asked people to attend to and verbally
“S………………………………”
(immediately repeat each word) speech coming into one ear, while simultaneously ignoring similar inputs to the other ear.
Competing
(Dichotic Listening)
“Shadow”
Cherry discovered that, when different speech inputs were played into each ear and the subjects were asked to shadow what was played into only one ear at a time, they could
N…………………… R……………………………
any details of the speech in the
U……………………. E…………..
Not Report
Unattended ear
Are the effects of selective attention
E…………………..
- that is, before extensive perceptual analysis?
Or do they occur
L……………
- after the information has been analyzed, but before a later stage of processing, such as that associated with
Encoding
the information as a semantic code or prior to the control of actions.
Early
Late
Encoding
The British psychologist Donald Broadbent (1958), working at Cambridge University. He conceptualized the
I……………………..-P…………………. S………………………,
a term that encompasses all aspects of the brain’s processing of data, including sensory inputs, as having a
L………………………-C………………………
stage through which only a certain amount of information can pass.
Information-processing System
Limited-Capacity
Broadbent described this mechanism as a
G……………………….
that could be opened for attended information and
C……………………………….
for ignored information. Thus, Broadbent argued for information selection
E…………………………
in the information-processing
S…………………………..
Gate
Closed
Early
Stream
Early selection, then, is the idea that a stimulus need to be
C………………………… P………………………….
analyzed before it can be selected for further processing or rejected as irrelevant.
Completely Perceptually
Subjects were often able to report when their own name was presented on the unattended channel.
This concept of
I…………………………………
of the unattended inputs led many to believe that all information was
E……………………….. analyzed,
regardless of whether it was attended or ignored later during processing.
Intrusion
Extensively
Models of late selection hypothesize that attended and ignored inputs are processed
E…………………………
by the perceptual system, reaching a stage of
S…………………………. (meaning)
encoding and analysis.
Equivalently
Semantic
Instead, selection takes place at
H………………. S……………………
of information processing that involve
I……………………… D……………………………..
about whether the stimuli should gain complete access to awareness, be encoded in memory, or initiate a response.
Higher Stages
Internal Decisions
Anne Treisman (1969) proposed that perhaps unattended channel information was not
C………………………… G……………………
from higher analysis but was merely
D…………………………..
or attenuated- a point with which Broadbent agreed.
Completely Gated
Degraded
Early-selection versus late-selection models were therefore modified to make
R…………………..
for the possibility that information on the unattended channel could reach
H……………………… S……………………..
of analysis, but with greatly
R…………………………… S…………………………
strength.
Room
Higher Stages
Reduced Signal
Limited-capacity is a concept that naturally flows from the observation that human performance
S………………………
when overloaded by multiple inputs.
Suffers
The system must make
H………….
“decisions” about what is selected for extended processing or gains access to awareness because the
C…………………………..
limitations result processing
B………………………………..
Hard
Capacity
Bottlenecks
Presumably the information-processing system evolved
S………………………. M…………………………..
to control information flow these bottlenecks and to establish priorities.
Selection Mechanisms
In these cuing tasks, the focus of attention is
M……………………………….
by the information in the cue. Cues can
D………………….
voluntary attention or be used to
A………………….
reflexive attention.
Manipulated
Direct
Attract
In studies of voluntary spatial attention using cuing tasks, participants are asked to
R………………… as F……………….
as they can following the
P…………………………….
of a target stimulus.
Respond
Fast
Presentation
They are instructed that the most likely location for the next target is the one indicated by a
P………… C…………………
such as an arrow pointing to that location; this is known as endogenous cuing because the
O………………..
of attention to cue is driven by the subject’s
G………………….. (perform the task as
I…………………)
rather than merely its physical features .
Prior Cue
Orienting
Goals
Instructed
When a cue correctly predicts the location of the subsequent target, we say we have a
V…………… T……………….
If the relation between cue and target is strong-that is, the cue usually
P…………………….
the target location (80% of the time)-then subjects
L………………..
to use the cue to
P……………………
the next target’s location.
Valid Trial.
Predicts
Learn
Predict
Sometimes, though, the target is presented at locations
N……….
indicated by the cue, in which case we have an Invalid trial.
Finally, the cue might give
N….
information about the most likely location of the
I……………………………
target; this situation is referred to as a
N……………………. trial.
Not
No
Impending
Neutral
That is, if the target appears where subjects expect it, they are
F…………………..
to respond to it; they are also slower to respond to targets at unexpected locations.
Faster
The spatial cuing
P…………………………..
popularized by Michael Posner and colleagues at the University of Oregon.
Paradigm
The function of
L…………….
expectancy are called
B………………….
(speeding of reaction time) and
C…………………
(slowing of reaction time) with respect to the neutral situation in which the subject does not expect the target at one location more than another.
Location
Benefits
Costs
These effects have been attributed to the influence of
C……………
attention on the efficiency of information processing.
Covert
The
S…………………….
is a metaphor to describe how the brain may attend to a spatial location.
Spotlight
The attentional spotlight may affect reaction times by influencing sensory and perceptual processing;
hence, representations of attended-location stimuli are
E……………………………..
with respect to unattended-location stimuli.
Enhanced
The lecturer leaves the door to the hallway open and, in the middle of lecture, someone
W…………… D……………….
the hallway passing the open door?
Walks Down
It is an example of
R………………………. (A………………………………)
attention leading to over orienting to the sensory stimulus-
O………………….
because heads and eyes turn toward the event in the hallway. But even in the absence of overt signs of orienting, covert attention can be
A……………………………
to sensory events.
Reflexive (Automatic)
Overt
Attracted
One way to demonstrate the effects of reflexive attention is to examine how a task-irrelevant
F…………..
of light somewhere in the
V…………….. F…………….
affects the speed of responses to subsequent task- relevant target-stimuli.
Flash
Visual Field
This method is referred to as
R…………………….. C……………………..
or exogenous cuing because attention is controlled by the
L……………….-L…………………….
features of external stimuli and not by internal voluntary control.
Reflexive Cuing
Low-Level
When more time passes
B……………………
the task-irrelevant cuing light flash and the target (more than about 300 ms), the pattern of reaction time effects is
R…………………:
Subjects now respond more slowly to these stimuli. This slowing of responses is called the inhibitory aftereffect or, more commonly,
I…………………. of R………………………
Between
Reversed
Inhibition of Return
The automatic orienting system has built-in mechanisms to prevent reflexively directed attention from becoming
S…………..
at a location for
T………….. L……………………
(more than a couple hundred milliseconds).
Stuck
Too Long
Does this mean that things that attract our attention reflexively
(C……………. be A…………………….)
for longer than a couple of hundred milliseconds? No. If the event is important, we can rapidly
I…………………………
our voluntary mechanisms to sustain attention longer, thereby
O…………………………….
the inhibition of return.
Can’t be Attended
Invoke
Overriding
The mechanisms of visual search were investigated and modeled by Anne Treisman. A basic observation from their work is that the time it takes
T…… F……….
a target among distracters is shorter (i.e., target are located quickly) and
I……………………….
of the number of distracters in the array if the target can be identified by a
S……………………….
feature such as color (e.g., a red O among green Xs and Os).
To Find
Independent
Single
This is known as conjunction search because the target is defined by the
C…………………………… of T………………..
or more stimulus features
(e.g., the color red and the letter O).
Conjunction
Two
