Ch 5 - Orienting of Attention

Question 1

attentional focal point

Answer 1

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can be shifted independently of ocular fixation

Question 2

orienting response

Answer 2

orienting - an adjustment of the animal’s position relative to the stimulus in question; usually involves a body, head, and/or eye movement

novel stimulus = strong orienting response
habituation = progressively weaker responses

Question 3

reticular activating system (RAS)

Answer 3

causes cortical arousal

Question 4

overt orienting

Answer 4

shifts of attention associated w/ detectable body movements, as described by Pavlov (1927)

Question 5

covert orienting

Answer 5

shifts of attention not associated w/ any directly observable body movements (Posner, 1978)

Question 6

location cueing method (Posner)

Answer 6

commonly used to study covert orienting

most have the following aspects

1) central fixation point that subjects must continually direct their eyes toward throughout each experimental trial
2) a visually presented target item to which subjects must respond (eg. detect, ID)
3) there is a location cue that is presented immediately before the target’s appearance

Question 7

cue-target onset asynchrony (CTOA)

Answer 7

delay btwn the presentation of the cue and target

Question 8

valid-cue trials

Answer 8

trials on which the target appears at the cued location

Question 9

invalid-cue trials

Answer 9

trials on which the target does not appear at the cued location

Question 10

neutral-cue trials

Answer 10

trials on which a neutral cue that did not provide any info about target location appeared immediately prior to target’s onset

Question 11

benefit of valid cueing on target detection responses

Answer 11

the difference btwn the mean valid-cue trial and the mean neutral-cue trial response times

Question 12

cost/benefit analysis (of valid/invalid cueing on target detection responses)

Answer 12

indicates that the magnitudes of facilitative and inhibitory effects of location cueing on response times

Question 13

cost of invalid cueing on target detection responses

Answer 13

the difference btwn the mean invalid-cue trial and mean neutral-cue trial response times

Question 14

symbolic location cues

Answer 14

usually centrally presented arrows or digits that subjects understand to indicate the expected target location; aka central, push, or endogenous cues
- meaning-fully associated w a particular location and therefore must be interpreted by an observer in order to be used

Question 15

direct location cues

Answer 15

usually underlines, outline boxes, or bar markers that are presented in close proximity to the expected target location; aka peripheral, pull or exogenous cues
- produce their effects by virtue of being physically close to the target location –> no cognitive interpretation of direct-cue meaning is required, attention is often captured by the onset of the cue w/out any direct involvement by the observer

Question 16

goal-driven (attention shift)

Answer 16

when an attention shift is initiated by a symbolic cue; observer processes the location information conveyed by the symbol and, on his basis, develops a computation goal for carrying out the task; aka intrinsic, endogenous, voluntary

Question 17

stimulus-driven (attention shift)

Answer 17

when an attention shift is initiated by a direct cue; aka extrinsic, exogenous, involuntary

Question 18

inhibition of return (IOR)

Answer 18

the inhibition of responses to objects appearing at recently cued or recently attended locations (Posner & Cohen, 1984)