chapter 14: attention and higher cognition Flashcards
attention
a state or condition of selective awareness or perceptual receptivity, by which specific stimuli are selected for enhanced processing
vigilance
the global, nonselective level of alertness of an individual
overt attention
attention in which the focus coincides with sensory orientation
covert attention
attention in which the focus can be directed independently of sensory orientation
cocktail party effect
selective enhancement of attention in order to filter out distractors, as you might do while listening to one person talking in the midst of a noisy party
inattentional blindness
failure to perceive non-attended stimuli that seem so obvious as to be impossible to miss
attentional bottleneck
a filter that pays attention to the most important stimuli to process
perceptual load
the immediate processing demands presented by a stimulus
sustained-attention tasks
a single stimulus location must be held in the attentional spotlight for an extended period
voluntary attention
voluntary direction of attention toward specific aspects of the environment in accordance with our interest and goals
reflexive attention
involuntary reorienting of attention toward a specific stimulus source cued by an unexpected object or event (bottom-up process)
feature search
a search for an item in which the target pops out right away, no matter how many distractors are present because it possesses a unique attribute
conjunction search
searching for an item on the basis of a combination of two or more features such as size and color
binding problem
the question of how the brain understands which individual attributes blend together into a single object, which then different features are processed by different regions in the brain
temporal resolution
ability to track changes in the brain that occur very quickly
spatial resolution
the ability to observe the detailed structure of the brain
event-related potential (ERP)
averaged EEG recordings measuring brain responses to repeated presentations of a stimulus
auditory N1 effect
a negative deflection of the event-related potential, occurring about 100 ms after stimulus presentation, that is enhanced for selectively attended auditory input compared with ignored input.
P3 effect
a positive deflection of the event-related potential occurring about 300 ms after stimulus presentation, that is associated with higher-order auditory stimulus processing and late attentional selection
visual P1 effect
a positive deflection of the event-related potential, occurring 70-100 ms after stimulus presentation, evident only in visual tasks involving manipulations of spatial attention
superior colliculus
controlling the movement of the eyes toward objects of attention, especially in overt forms of attention: goal oriented
pulvinar
heavily involved in visual procesing, important for the orienting and shifting of attention
intraparietal sulcus
especially involved in voluntary, top-down control of attention
frontal eye field
an area in the frontal lobe of the brain that contains neurons important for establishing gaze in accordance with cognitive goals rather than with any characteristics of stimuli: directs gaze according to cognitive goals rather than characteristics of stimuli
tempoporietal junction
involved in reflexive steering of attention toward novel or unexpected stimuli
hemispatial neglect
attention syndrome in which the person tends to completely disregard the left side of the world
balints syndrome
a disorder caused by damage to both parietal lobes, characterized by difficulty in steering visual gaze, accurately reaching for objects using visual guidance, and in direction attention to more than once object or feature at a time
simultagnosia
extreme narrowing of the attentional spotlight to the point that it can’t encompass more than one object at a time
ADHD
characterized by distractibility, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity that in children interferes with school performance
consciousness
state of being aware that we are conscious and that we can perceive what is going on in our minds and all around us
default mode network
a circuit of brain regions that is active during quiet introspective thought
easy problem consciousness
understanding how particular patterns of neural activity create specific conscious experiences
hard problem of consciousness
understanding the brain processes that produce people’s subjective experiences of their conscious perceptions
qualia
purely subjective experience of perception
executive functioning
a neural and cognitive system that helps develop plans of action and organizes the activities of other high level processing systems
neuroeconomics
study of brain mechanisms at work during decision making
prefrontal cortex
the most anterior region of the frontal lobe and is comparatively large in humans
divided-attention task
subjects are asked to process two or more simultaneous stimuli
attentional spotlight
shifts around the environment, highlighting stimuli for processing
inhibition of return
longer intervals interfere with processing of valid cues
bottom-up process
controlled by lower-order sensory inputs rather than by voluntary conscious processes
The overall level of alertness of an individual is called _______, as distinguished from the process by which we select and focus on one or more stimuli, which is called _______.
vigilance; attention
According to the concept of perceptual load, a large perceptual load
decreases perceptual resources for unattended items.
The unconscious shifts in attention that come about in response to important changes in our environment are considered _______ processes.
bottom-up
Inhibition of return refers to
impaired detection of stimuli at the previously attended location.
You are looking for your friend at a hockey game. She is easy to find as she is wearing a purple sweater, while everyone else is wearing blue and white. Your behavior is an example of a
feature search.
Which component of an averaged-out ERP waveform is believed to reflect auditory attention?
N1
You feel a splinter in your hand and look down to examine it. Which brain area controls the movement of your eyes toward the object of your attention (the splinter)?
Superior colliculus
The _______ is (are) critically important for establishing gaze in accordance with _______ processes and cognitive goals.
frontal eye fields; top-down
The so-called _______ problem of consciousness refers to the difficulty of understanding the brain processes that produce a person’s subjective experience.
hard
Patients with _______ lobe lesions struggle with task shifting and tend to _______ (continue beyond a reasonable degree in any activity).
frontal; perseverate
