Ch 8 Attention (Exam 2)

Question 1

what is attention?

Answer 1

• attentional mechanisms select, modulate, and sustain focus on info most relevant for behaviour
• we don’t attend to all stimuli

Question 2

3 categories of attention

Answer 2

1. source: cause for directing one’s attention
2. target: what you are attending to
3. type

Question 3

exogenous source

Answer 3

• in the environment
• reflexive and automatic
• bottom-up

Question 4

endogenous source

Answer 4

• in the mind
• voluntary and intentional
• top down
• a desire or goal

Question 5

external target

Answer 5

• sensory info, in the environment
• a sensory modality, spatial location, feature, or object

Question 6

internal target

Answer 6

• mental representations
• a memory, imagery, or plan

Question 7

overt type

Answer 7

• actual movement of sensory surface

Question 8

covert type

Answer 8

• doesn’t involve actual movement
• ie. eavesdropping

Question 9

transient type

Answer 9

• momentarily focused on something
• between objects

Question 10

sustained type

Answer 10

• prolonged focus on something
• one stimulus

Question 11

selective type

Answer 11

• focus on one thing to the exclusion of others

Question 12

divided type

Answer 12

• try to focus on multiple things simultaneously

Question 13

Broadbent’s filter model

Answer 13

• we selectively attend to info by filtering out irrelevant stimuli

Question 14

dichotic listening

Answer 14

• a few different studies
• inputs in either ear to determine what we attend to
• unattended message: report gender and existence, can hear own name, meaning matters

Question 15

Treisman’s attenuation theory

Answer 15

• attention NOT an all-or-none filter
• attended messages come through strongly and unattended messages come through weakly

Question 16

late selection model

Answer 16

• attention filtering occurs after semantic analysis

Question 17

attention theory after all results

Answer 17

• attention is a controllable process that can be implemented at different levels
• early vs late selection can be chosen based on situation and approach

Question 18

electroencephalography (EEG)

Answer 18

• measures surface electric fields generated by post-synaptic potentials in dendrites of neurons
• high temporal resolution
• low spatial resolution

Question 19

mid-latency responses from primary auditory cortex

Answer 19

• from 10-50 m/s
• more neurons for processing

Question 20

late latency response from secondary and tertiary

Answer 20

• 50-500 m/s
• larger waves
• steep climbing negative curve

Question 21

attention has an effect in the ____ and ____ auditory cortex

Answer 21

• secondary
• tertiary

Question 22

Posner’s orienting task with endogenous source

Answer 22

• faster to respond during valid trials
• slower to respond during invalid trials

Question 23

Posner’s orienting task with exogenous source

Answer 23

• at short cue-to-target intervals: valid cue -> facilitation
• at long cue-to-target intervals: valid cure -> inhibition of return (IOR)

Question 24

IOR

Answer 24

• detection of stimuli at cued location takes longer when there is a larger cue-to-target interval

Question 25

visual attentional stream paradigm

Answer 25

- focus on fixation cross and either attend to left or right side of the screen - larger neural response for attended vs unattended

Question 26

at the neuronal level attention:

Answer 26

1. enhances or suppresses firing rate 2. sharpens tuning of cortical neurons 3. improves signal-to-noise ratio

Question 27

neuronal firing synchronization

Answer 27

- links activity across different brain regions - one way to solve the binding problem

Question 28

unilateral (hemi spatial) neglect

Answer 28

- a deficit in perceiving and responding to stimulation contralateral to damaged hemispheres - a deficit of attention

Question 29

spatial neglect

Answer 29

- neglect of left side of space - location-based attention

Question 30

object neglect

Answer 30

- neglect on the left side of objects - object-based attention

Question 31

treatment for neglect

Answer 31

1. prism adaptation theory 2. visual scanning training 3. limb activation theory

Question 32

frontal eye fields

Answer 32

- establishes gaze in accordance with cognitive goals - helps us focus on particular stimuli - damage: gaze drifting, difficulty maintaining attention

Question 33

intraparietal sulcus

Answer 33

- plays key role in voluntary top-down attention - creates a priority map of what is most relevant to goal - damage: disrupts ability to shift attention between targets

Question 34

temporoparietal junction

Answer 34

- bottom-up, reflexive attention shifts - circuit breaker that overrides current flows if something unexpected happens - damage: lack of reflexive attention, unilateral neglect

Question 35

supplementary motor area

Answer 35

- endogenous attention - internally guided sustained attention - helps maintain focus on internal tasks

Question 36

anterior cingulate cortex

Answer 36

- executive control of attention - ensures attention is maintained on relevant stimuli