Chapter 18: Attention and Higher Cognition Flashcards
attention (selective attention)
the process of selecting or focusing on one or more stimuli for enhanced processing and analysis
is attention usually overt and covert
it is usually overt but can be covert
overt
directing senses and attention toward same target
covert
shifting focus of visual attention
example of covert
peripheral vision
vigilance
similar to attention: the global, nonselective level of alertness of the individual
cocktail party effect
selectively enhanced attention to filter out distractions
- this is why you can “tune out” irrelevant voices and focus on the most important ones
- requires the ability to focus on a single speech source
what happens when people are given headphones and asked to focus their attention to one ear or another, what do they report?
they can only accurately report what they were hearing in the attended ear
what can musicians focus their attention on?
certain notes and segregate them from multiple simultaneous sounds
inattentional blindness
failure to perceive nonattended stimuli that seem obvious and hard to miss
what do divided attention tasks demonstrate?
attention is limited and that it is difficult to attend to more than one thing at a time
selective attention acts like an _________
attentional spotlight
what do attentional spotlights do?
highlight stimuli for enhanced processing, protecting the brain from being overwhelmed by the world
early selection model
unattended information is filtered out right away
late selection model
information is filtered only after substantial unconscious processing
perceptual load
immediate processing challenge presented by a stimulus
we have enough attentional resources to either attend to _________
one complex task at a time or a few simple ones
voluntary attention
consciously controlled, top-down attention shifts that come from within according to interests and goals
symbolic cuing task
measures voluntary attention
longer reaction time = __________
more neural processing
what type of attention helps us perform better and faster?
voluntary, directed attention
can attention be involuntary?
yes
reflexive attention
exogenously controlled, bottom-up reorienting of attention toward the location of an unexpected stimulus
peripheral spatial cuing
task that measures reflexive attention