Attention controlled Flashcards
Attention
allocates mental resources
scarce resource that needs to be learned effectively
ability to focus on specific stimuli or locations
What kills attention?
technology
Times Square demo
25-30 ads portrayed but you actually don’t remember any or only 2-3
Visual search paradigm
actively looking for a specific target among a visual scene which has other distractors
eg; find the blue ‘L’ amongst red ‘L’
eg; find blue ‘L’ amonst different letters of both color blue and red
Results of visual search paradigm
Controlled attention (multiple features) had a longer reaction time than automatic attention (one feature)
Controlled attention
where you choose to put your attention
Automatic attention
anything different by 1 feature
System 1
automatic processing
System 1 features
automatic. constantly monitoring environment
forms quickly
not controlled. no danger
System 2
controlled processing
System 2 features
controlled.focuses our attention
slow. conducts complex computations
effortful. effortful mental activities
serial. proceeds in with an orderly set of steps
Subtypes of controlled attention
- selective/focused
- divided
Subtypes of automatic processing
- orienting
- preattentive
Example of automatic processing
finding red umbrella amongst black umbrellas
Example of controlled processing
finding the ‘and’ in a text
Example of selective processing (controlled)
focus on how many basketball passes without seeing the gorilla
how to test selective processing (controlled)
present 2 or more inputs and see how well people can concentrate on one and ignore other
Example of divided attention (controlled)
control unit when flying
how to test divided attention (controlled)
present 2 or more inputs and see how well people can concentrate on both
what is selective attention (controlled)
focus on what’s relevant and ignore what is not
what is divided attention (controlled)
focus on multiple things at once - multi tasking
attentional capture
a rapid shifting of attention usually caused by a stimulus such as loud noise, bright light or sudden movement
visual scanning
movements of the eye from one location to another
Experiment by Chabris (selective)
Whether people can miss obvious events nearby due to selective attention - participants focused on counting a runner’s actions while a staged fight occurred nearby
Why was Chabris’ experiment done?
prove whether police officer Conley was lying to protect his comrades by claiming he never saw any of the beating he ran by
Inattentional blindness
failure to notice fully-visible but unexpected object because attention was engaged elsewhere
Results of Chabris’ experiment
only 56% of participants noticed the fight
Hallmark of inattentional blindness
increasing the effort required by primary task, decreases noticing unexpected events
Results of Chabri’s experiment pt.2
0 count - 72% noticed fight
2 counts - 42% noticed fight
Dichotic listening experiments
simultaneously play one thing in one ear and something different in the other
Dichotic listening
receiving two different stimuli in the different ear
Task in the dichotic listening experiments
- focus attention on the words you hear in one ear (attended ear) and repeat them out loud
- notice, without shifting your attention from attended ear, what you can take in from the unattended ear
Shadowing
repeating what you are hearing
Broadbent’s filter model of attention (early filter model)
how it is possible to focus on one message only and why information isn’t taken in from the other message
Stages in Broadbent’s early filtering model
Sensory memory
Filter
Detector
Output
