BIO T6

Question 1

Selective attention?

Answer 1

Difficulty paying attention simultaneouslyto stimuli of the same modality (e.g.,two auditory stimuli or two visual stimuli)

Question 2

Dichotic Listening Task?

Answer 2

<img></img>* The simultaneous delivery of different stimuli to the right and the left ears.

Question 3

Cocktail party effect?

Answer 3

<img></img>* The cocktail party effect is the selective enhancement of processing resources for a particular target in a noisy environment. Despite high levels of background noise, we can focus on what someone is saying because paying close attention to them enhances our processing of their speech and helps filter out distractors. It works by maintaining the focus of our attention on a single speech source, with extra clues in different sensory modalities, such as the spatial origin of speech sounds, the movements of the speaker’s face, and their unique tone of voice.

Question 4

defining attention

Answer 4

cognitive process that allows us toovertlydirect our senses and awareness to specific stimuli due to the frontoparietal and temporoparietal network

Question 5

→ voluntary/ selective attention on stimuli and direction

Answer 5

→ enhanced processing, learning

Question 6

→ reflexive attention

Answer 6

= involuntarily

Question 7

What are key attentional processes?

Answer 7

selection and vigilance

Question 8

How does attention manifest cerebrally?

Answer 8

different brain areas and networks are activated across different processes of attention

Question 9

What is the brain activity during attention also linked to?

Answer 9

Brain damage

Question 10

What is hemispheral neglect?

Answer 10

Damage to one hemisphere of the brain can induce deficits in attention and awareness on the opposite side of the field of vision

Question 11

What is attention, and how is it different from arousal?

Answer 11

Attention is the process by which we select or focus on one or more specific stimuli for enhanced processing and analysis. It is the selective quality of attention that distinguishes it from the related concept of arousal, which is the global level of alertness of the individual.

Question 12

Can attention be directed covertly?

Answer 12

Yes, attention can be directed covertly. In classic research, Hermann von Helmholtz showed that we can keep our eyes fixed on one location while “secretly” scrutinising some other location in peripheral vision.

Question 13

Q: What is conjunction search?

Answer 13

A: Conjunction search is a type of visual search where a person is searching for a target item on the basis of two or more features that together distinguish the target from distracters that may share some of the same attributes. Performance on conjunction searches is directly related to the number of distracters present, and the search involves coordinating multiple cognitive feature maps that overlap with each other, with each map focused on one particular stimulus attribute. This idea is called feature integration theory.

Question 14

Q: What is feature search?

Answer 14

A: Feature search is a type of visual search where a person is looking for a target item that is different from all the distractors in some fundamental way. For example, searching for a friend in a red coat in a crowd of dark-suited businesspeople. This type of visual search is known as a feature search because the target feature “pops out” immediately and the search seems effortless.

Question 15

Q: How do voluntary and reflexive attention work together in cognition?

Answer 15

A: Voluntary and reflexive attention normally work together in cognition, probably relying on somewhat overlapping neural mechanisms. In single-mindedly searching for specific items (an example of voluntarily controlled attention), a person can be very focused. But even slight noises and movements (cues that reflexively capture attention) can cause a person to stop and scan their surroundings. Effective cues for reflexive attention can cross the boundaries between different sensory modalities in order to aid the processing of stimuli.

Question 16

Q: What are the two important effects seen in experiments using a peripheral spatial cueing task?

Answer 16

A: The two important effects seen in such experiments are:
1) a valid cue captures attention and enhances processing of subsequent stimuli in the target location, but only when the interval between cue and target is brief
2) detection of stimuli at the location where the cue occurred is increasingly impaired when the interval between cue and target becomes longer, about 200ms onward. This inhibition of return probably evolved to prevent reflexively controlled attention from settling on unimportant stimuli for more than an instant.

Question 17

Q: What is the function of attention?

Answer 17

A: One of the important functions of attention is to act as a filter, blocking unimportant stimuli and directing cognitive resources to only the most important events, and thereby protecting the brain from being overwhelmed by the world.

Question 18

Q: At what level of sensory processing is the attentional bottleneck evident?

Answer 18

A: There is debate over whether the attentional bottleneck occurs at an early stage of sensory processing, where unattended information is filtered out right away, or at a later stage where the filtration imposed by the processing bottleneck occurs after substantial analysis has already occurred. Many models of attention contain both early- and late-selection mechanisms, and the debate continues over their relative importance.

Question 19

Q: What is perceptual load and how does it relate to attention?

Answer 19

A: Perceptual load is the immediate processing challenge presented by a stimulus. According to the perceptual load theory, when we focus on a complex stimulus that requires a lot of perceptual processing, attention exerts early selection and excludes other stimuli from the outset. But when we focus on simpler stimuli, there is enough perceptual capacity to allow for processing of other stimuli, right up to the level of semantic meaning, recognition, and awareness, and thus, late selection. In other words, attention strikes a balance between early and late selection, according to the difficulty of the task at hand.

Question 20

Q: What is the difference between early and late-selection models of attention?

Answer 20

A: Early-selection models propose that unattended information is filtered out right away, at the level of the initial sensory input. Late-selection models, on the other hand, suggest that the filtration imposed by the processing bottleneck occurs at a later point, filtering out stimuli only after substantial analysis has already occurred. Some important but unattended stimuli may undergo substantial unconscious processing right up to the level of semantic meaning and awareness, before suddenly capturing attention. Many models of attention contain both early- and late-selection mechanisms, and the debate continues over their relative importance.

Question 21

Q: What is reflexive attention?

Answer 21

A: Reflexive attention, also known as exogenously controlled attention, is the involuntary reorientation of attention toward a sudden or important event, which can capture and draw attention away from the task at hand. It is considered a bottom-up process because it is controlled by sensory inputs from lower levels of the nervous system, rather than being the result of voluntary, conscious cognitive control by the forebrain.

Question 22

Q: How is the effect of reflexive attention on stimulus processing measured?

Answer 22

A: The effect of reflexive attention on stimulus processing can be measured using a peripheral spatial cueing task, in which a participant fixates on a point and is asked to respond as quickly as possible when the target stimulus appears. Instead of a meaningful symbol to direct attention toward a target location, a simple task-irrelevant sensory stimulus (such as a flash of light or a sound) is presented in the location to which attention is to be drawn. Reaction time measures for many such trials are averaged for each participant.

Question 23

What is a shadowing task, and how does it relate to attention?

Answer 23

A shadowing task is a demanding task in which participants listen to two different streams of dialog delivered simultaneously to the left and right ears, and are asked to focus their attention on one ear or the other and to repeat aloud the material being presented to that ear. Participants can accurately report what they are hearing in the attended ear, but they can report very little that had been presented to the unattended ear. This type of task is used to study selective attention in auditory and visual modalities.

Question 24

What is inattentional blindness, and how can it affect experts?

Answer 24

Inattentional blindness is a surprising failure to perceive nonattended stimuli that one would think would be impossible to miss. For example, a gorilla strolling across the screen in a visual shadowing experiment or a clear image of a gorilla inserted into a CT scan of the lungs. It can affect experts as well, with one study showing that 83% of radiologists screening for lung cancer missed the image of a gorilla inserted into a CT scan of the lungs.

Question 25

Inattentional blindness or change blindness

Answer 25

The failure to perceive non -attended stimuli that seem so obvious as to be impossible to miss; it was lowering the lights on everything else

Question 26

Function of selective attention?

Answer 26

The brain can’t process all sensory information simultaneously

Question 27

What is selective attention?

Answer 27

The shifting of our limited selective attentionaround the environment to highlight stimuli forenhanced processing

Question 28

What would it be like if you were equally aware of all the visual and auditory details of your environment at once? Would this be an advantage or a disadvantage?

Answer 28

excessive amount of sensory information bombards the brain simultaneously. –> no selective attention no focus/efficiency

Question 29

Overt attention:

Answer 29

process in which the personselectively attends to a specific stimulus overothers by moving the eyes to point in thedirection of the stimulus.

Question 30

Covert attention:

Answer 30

process that involvesshifting mental attention without moving theeyes.

Question 31

SELECTIVE ATTENTION is an

Answer 31

Active process

Question 32

What is a symbolic cuing task and its conclusion and purpose?

Answer 32

Study 1: investigate detection ability
Study 1: attention increases our visual sensitivity, making things easier to detect

Question 33

How can you study reaction times? and what is the result of such studies?

Answer 33

Study 2: attention speeds reaction times

Question 34

What are top-down processes?

Answer 34

endogenousattention: attention is deliberately directedby the brain to some object or place to servea behavioral goal.<img></img>

Question 35

What are bottom-up processes?

Answer 35

exogenousattention: the stimulus attracts our attentionwithout any cognitive input. Depends oncertain visual features (e.g., color, movement,novelty,…)<img></img>

Question 36

What do fmris relating human attention to location show?

Answer 36

Activated area shifts as the subject changes the area of attention orientation, despite the fact that the stimulus is always the same. Pattern of brain activity changes retinotopically.

Question 37

What do PETs scans relating human attention toshow?

Answer 37

• Task: Frame 1 = Frame 2?
• Experience of selective attention (shape, colour, speed)and divided attention
• Increased activity in different brain areas when attention was directed to speed (green), colour (blue) or shape (orange).

Question 38

What do previous studies of neural bases of attention show (3)

Answer 38

Visual attention involves activation of the visual cortex and association areas related to the visual system (temporal and parietal lobe).
* The activation of specific areas varies with the characteristics to look for.
* Attention enhances neuronal responses.

Question 39

How is the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus implicated in attention?

Answer 39

Reciprocal connections with visual cortical areas of the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes. *
* Unilateral injuries to this area lead to increased time responses to stimuli on the contralateral side*

Question 40

How is the frontal eye field (FEF) implicated in atention?

Answer 40

• Area located in the premotor cortex.
• Responsible for saccades.
• Direct connections with areas V2, V3, V4 andMT and parietal cortex + superior colliculus<img></img>

Question 41

Which brain region is important for top-down and bottom-up processes

Answer 41

<img></img>* Frontal cortex (lateral prefrontal cortex, PFC, and frontal eye fields, FEF) active first during top-down attention, followed by LIP.
* Neurons in the LIP (lateral intraparietal area) responded first to the target during bottom-up attention, followed by the PFC and FEF.

Question 42

What are the two attentional networks?

Answer 42

dorsal frontoparietal and right tempoparietal network* <img></img><img></img>

Question 43

How does selective attention influence the gamma frequency in the somatosensory system?

Answer 43

increases (important for working memory and attention)

Question 44

SPATIAL NEGLECT

Answer 44

People ignore or neglect sensory information located in the visual field opposite the damaged hemisphere. –> More common with lesions of the right hemisphere (the posterior parietal cortex (spatial relations))

Question 45

Why is spatial neglect syndrome a problem in attention but not just sensation?

Answer 45

they have difficulty directing their attention to that side. Their brains fail to allocate attentional resources to the neglected space.

Question 46

How many childen are affected byATTENTION-DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER and what are the symptoms?

Answer 46

• Affects around 5% of children
• inability to sustain attention (inattention): difficulty in staying on a task, staying organized, sustaining focus
• impulsiveness: acting without thinking or have difficulty with self-control, a desire for immediate rewards
• hyperactivity: moving constantly, including in situations when it is not appropriate

Question 47

What is proposed to be root of ADHD?

Answer 47

• Delayed cortical development (especiallyin prefrontal regions) in children andadolescentes<img></img>

Question 48

By what are ADHD brains characterised? (3)

Answer 48

1. Cortical thickness (frontal and parietal lobes) is reduced in adults; lower grey matter density; white matter abnormalities* <img></img>*
2. Reduced total brain volume and/or some brain structures (e.g. amygdala and basal ganglia are smaller)
3. Involvement of dopamine as well: Levels of available dopamine transporter molecules and receptors are typically lower in some parts of the brain.

Question 49

What is used to treat adhd?

Answer 49

• The most common treatment for ADHD is methylphenidate (Ritalin) – inhibits the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine

Question 50

What happens during top-down and bottom-up processes in terms of time (voluntary/reflexive)?

Answer 50

Question 51

Which brain regions do previous studies of neural bases of attention implicate?

Answer 51