Attention (EXAM 1) Flashcards
What is attention?
Focusing on something
3 characteristics of attention
- Limited capacity
- flexible
- can be controlled
In attention, what does limited capacity mean?
Attention has limited capacity (you can only attend to so much at one time, as you try to juggle more, performance suffers)
In attention, what does flexible mean?
Environmental/Internal factors can easily shift attentional focus
In attention, what does controlled mean?
You can choose to direct your attention based on your interests, goals, expectations
Pre-Attentive Processing
Before you select/focus on information; Quick, relatively effortless; kind of like sensation
Subitizing
An example of pre-attentive processing (ex: quick, count a small # of objects 1,2,3)
True or false: All 3 models agree there is pre-attentive processing, they disagree on how much info is pre-attentive
True
What is the Dichotic Listening Task?
- (1) Participants wear headphones, (2) 2 messages are played, one in each ear, (3) participants told to shadow one message (repeat messages back out loud), (4) researcher wants to evaluate what participants remember from non-shadowed ear
- Different manipulations in the unattended/non-shadowed ear: (ex) change in voice, change in voice, language, message topic
- After the task is over, ask the participant what they remember hearing: Do they report anything from a non-shadowed ear?
- Outcomes: Successfully shadow attended ear/ignore unattended ear; can identify surface features of the unattended ear (ex: pitch, change in voice, etc.); cannot identify meaning on unattended ear
What are the 3 models of attention?
Broadbent, Treisman, Deutsch + Deutsch
Broadbents Model
Early selection, decide to process ONE input/stream of information for meaning
Broadbents Model: What is sensory register?
Sensory info enters your system and pre-attentive processing occurs
Broadbents Model: What is selective filter
Decide to process ONE stream of info for meaning, everything else blocked out
Broadbents Model: What is the detection device
Selected info is processed for meaning
Broadbents Model: What is short-term memory + response
Information goes into short-term memory, and you are then able to use/respond to that info you wanted to
What is Broadbents Model called?
Early selection model
What is the early selection model?
Decide to process ONE input/stream of information for meaning (all-or-nothing, on/off switch)
What is the problem with the early selection model?
Moray found participants could identify their name in the non-shadowed ear
Cocktail party effect
Focusing on one thing, but attention can be captured by something else if particularly salient
What was Treisman’s model called?
Split-phrase outcome
Split phrase switching
Dichotic listening task where the two messages switch part way through to the other ear
What was split-phrase outcome
Participants switch from repeating the shadowed side to the side they were supposed to be ignoring
Why are the results of treisman’s research with split phrase switching a problem for broadbent’s model?
You shouldn’t be able to switch to the ignored side and finish the message unless you are processing that side for meaning
Treisman’s attenuation model
- Starts out similar to broadbent, but different filter; other info isn’t completely blocked out
- Early slection model (select information before process meaning)
- Other info isn’t completely blocked out
- Starts out similar to broadbent BUT different filter (other info completely blocked out)
How is treismans model different than broadbents
- Instead of an on/off switch, there’s a nozzle that you can adjust to change amount of information from each input
- but still has limited capacity
- rest of the model is same as broadbents
How does Treisman’s attenuation model explain the cocktail party effect?
We can have a little bit of our attention on things besides our primary focus, allowing us to process things (like our name) for meaning
How to Treisman’s attenuation model explain split-phrase switching?
We can have a little bit of attention on the ignored side, even though we are mainly focusing on shadowed side
Deutsch + Deutsch Model
- Late selection
- Everything is processed for meaning
- You select information AFTER analyzing it all for meaning
- Only limited in the response part, we cannot respond to everything
Subliminal Messages
Semantic processing without awareness (can have very small effects on behavior)
Inattentional blindness
Failure to notice an obvious but unexpected object b/c focused on something else
Change blindness
Failure to notice changes in an existing objects/scene if focused on something else
What information do we process for meaning in Broadbents model?
Information from the one input we select
What information do we process for meaning in Treismans model?
Information from however many inputs we select (with the caveat that capacity is limited)
What information do we process for meaning in Deusch model?
Everything
Smallwood + Schoolers framework (2006): What was it?
(1) cognitive processing using resources. (2) resources are shared. (3) mind wandering + other cognitive processing are competing for use of the shared resources
Mind wanderings
Thoughts about anything anything other than your primary task or goal (often called “talk-unrelated thought” -TUT-)
Evidence for Smallwood + Schoolers
Some studies have found that people tend to mind wander less while doing a difficulty task and more during an easy task
Evidence against smallwood + schoolers
(1) People vary in how big their pool of resources is. (2) based on S+S, we predict that individuals with greater resources should mind wanter more. (3) however, some studies have found that people with greater resources mind wander less
Inhibition
The ability to ignore non-task relevant stimuli
Stroop task (has to do with inhibition)
For each word, state the color of that word (ex: green, purple, blue)
Can Broadbents model explain the cocktail party effect?
NO
Can Broadbents model explain split-phrase?
NO
Can Broadbents model explain subliminal messages
NO
Can Broadbents model explain inattentional blindness
YES
Can Treisman explain the cocktail party effect?
YES
Can Treisman explain split-phrase?
YES
Can Treisman explain submlimnal messages?
NO
Can Treisman explain inattential blindness?
YES
Can Deustch explain the cocktail party effect?
YES
Can Deustch explain split-phrase?
YES
Can Deustch explain submlimnal messages?
YES
Can Deustch explain inattentional blindness?
NO
