Attention, memory and imagery

Question 1

What is overt visual attention?

Answer 1

When gaze is physically directed towards the object of interest, and attention moves to that object

Question 2

What is covert visual attention?

Answer 2

When mental attention is directed towards an object, but the line of gaze doesn’t move. Used to scan a visual scene.

Question 3

What is an exogenous cue?

Answer 3

A cue which grabs your attention due to sudden appearance - it’s involuntary and quick.

Question 4

What is an endogenous cue?

Answer 4

A cue which draws your attention to something, but is voluntary and slower than exogenous. Attention is goal driven - e.g. looking at a zebra crossing while driving (important and helps towards goal of getting to destination)

Question 5

What are the three things that cue visual attention?

Answer 5

Sudden visual or auditory stimuli
Other people suddenly looking elsewhere (social signalling)
An ‘odd one out’ object in a visual scene (e.g. one bright object in otherwise dull scene)

Question 6

What is a valid cue?

Answer 6

Attention is drawn to the correct place before stimulus appears (i.e. box where spot will appear)

Question 7

What is a neutral cue?

Answer 7

Attention is drawn to a neutral space before stimulus appears (i.e. both boxes)

Question 8

What is an invalid cue?

Answer 8

Attention is drawn to the incorrect place before stimulus appears (i.e. wrong box to where spot will appear)

Question 9

Out of valid, neutral and invalid cues, which has the quickest reaction time to the stimulus after the attention has been cued?

Answer 9

Valid - already looking in the right place so minimal time for attention to come to stimulus

Question 10

What is change blindness?

Answer 10

Inability to notice change if said change is separated by a transient event (i.e. something in between changes your attention/affects your memory)

Question 11

What is inattentional blindness?

Answer 11

Temporary inability to perceive unexpected objects due to attention being focused on another task.

Question 12

Which area of the brain is associated with attention of the left visual field?

Answer 12

Right parietal cortex

Question 13

Which area of the brain is associated with attention of the right visual field?

Answer 13

Right and left parietal cortices

Question 14

What is unilateral neglect?

Answer 14

One side (almost always left) of visual field neglected due to pathology of right hemisphere. Visual pathway is in tact but attention can’t be drawn.
Visual analysis still occurs but px unaware this is happening (e.g. house on fire)

Question 15

What are the three (four) types of unilateral neglect?

Answer 15

Egocentric
Allocentric
Object-centred
(Representational)

Question 16

What is egocentric unilateral neglect?
What is it also known as?

Answer 16

Everything to the left of the px’s midline is ignored
AKA Hemilateral neglect

Question 17

What is allocentric unilateral neglect?

Answer 17

The leftmost object in a group is ignored

Question 18

What is object-centred unilateral neglect?

Answer 18

The left side of every object is ignored

Question 19

What is representational unilateral neglect?

Answer 19

The px is unable to imagine or recall the left side of images in their mind

Question 20

What are two conditions where visual analysis still occurs but the px is unaware of this? What does this mean?

Answer 20

Unilateral neglect
Prosopagnosia
Px is able to get some information but can’t physically see it - e.g. prosopagnosia pxs can ‘recognise’ familiar faces

Question 21

What is simultagnosia?

Answer 21

Px is unable to perceive multiple objects at the same time

Question 22

What is Balint’s syndrome?

Answer 22

Functional blindness due to bilateral damage to the parietal cortices, i.e can’t direct attention to objects

Question 23

What are the symptoms of Balint’s syndrome?

Answer 23

Saccade initiation failure (unable to change fixation from one object to another)
Simultagnosia
Spatial disorientation (unable to work out where objects are)
Optic ataxia (unable to grasp a clearly perceived object)

Question 24

Where does visual perception interface with visual imagery and memory?

Answer 24

Inferotemporal cortex (IT) in right temporal lobe

Question 25

What is visual memory?

Answer 25

Preservation of an image after the physical stimulus has gone

Question 26

What is iconic memory? How long does it last for?

Answer 26

Ability to remember basic info about what has just been seen (e.g. size, shape and colour).
Lasts less than a second

Question 27

What is short-term memory?

Answer 27

A form of storage between iconic and long term memory which remembers more detail than iconic memory

Question 28

What is working memory? What is it’s capacity?

Answer 28

Active processing of sensory info and memory in order to complete cognitive tasks.
Capacity: 4-7 items for less than a minute

Question 29

What is long term memory?

Answer 29

Integration of visual info with other sensory info, able to recall much later, high storage capacity

Question 30

What is Baddeley’s model of working memory?

Answer 30

Visual input goes to the central executive (processing unit). Feeding in and out of the central executive is the visuospatial sketchpad and the articulatory loop. Any output goes into longer-term memory.

Question 31

What is perceptual learning?

Answer 31

Adaptation of perceptual system in response to a change in environment to make it easier to respond and work within that environment. e.g. upside down specs

Question 32

What is visual imagery?

Answer 32

Generating, examining and manipulating mental images (imagining)

Question 33

What can cause hallucinations?

Answer 33

Onset of sleep (hypnagogic)
When waking (hypnopompic)
Neurological conditions (e.g. Alzheimer’s/Parkinson’s)
Reduced sensory activity (prisoner’s cinema/Charles Bonnet Syndrome)
Drugs
Migraine
Epilepsy
Psychological disorders (e.g. psychosis, delirium tremens, schizophrenia)

Question 34

What do simple hallucinations look like?

Answer 34

Lights, colours, formless geometric shapes and patterns

Question 35

What do simple hallucinations provide evidence of?

Answer 35

How the visual system is organised

Question 36

What do complex hallucinations look like?

Answer 36

Faces, figures, text, symbols, whole scenes

Question 37

What do complex hallucinations provide evidence of?

Answer 37

Attention - ambiguous stimuli are misperceived

Question 38

What is Charles Bonnet syndrome?

Answer 38

Visual pseudohallucinations (visual only, no sounds, smells etc.) due to significant vision loss

Question 39

How soon after visual loss can Charles Bonnet syndrome occur?

Answer 39

A few weeks to a few months

Question 40

What are pseudohallucinations?

Answer 40

Px experiences hallucinations but is aware that they aren’t real

Question 41

What percentage of px’s with Charles Bonnet syndrome still have it 5 years later?

Answer 41

75%

Question 42

What are commonly reported hallucinations with Charles Bonnet syndrome?

Answer 42

Lines, dots, squiggles
Geometric shapes/repeating patterns
Faces (often distorted or disfigured)
People (often small [lilliputian hallucinations], wearing elaborate costumes and/or headgear)
Vehicles
Meaningless text, letters or symbols

Question 43

How can an episode of Charles Bonnet syndrome be stopped?

Answer 43

Making large eye movements side to side
Changing the lighting
Getting up and moving around