Chapter 22 - Attention/Consciousness

Question 1

Explain Case R.P

Answer 1

mental neglect of one side, problem when to trust people, not being attentive to some info

right posterior parietotemporal lesions

Question 2

What is attention

Answer 2

a selective narrowing or focusing of awareness to part of the sensory environment or stimuli

selective awareness of information from maps

Question 3

What is consciousness

Answer 3

an awareness of information and an awareness of awareness

Question 4

What does Koch think about the relationship between consciousness and attention

Answer 4

require two distinct brain processes
attention = top down process that selects information (specific features)
consciousness = not so selective, summarizes all information about environment (gist)

Question 5

Define automatic processes

Answer 5

processes performed without intention, involuntarily, without awareness
is bottom-up

Question 6

Explain Treisman’s model of feature search

Answer 6

detect simple visual features first and then combine features to form a coherent perception of the object

when looking for a target defined by a combination of features, the process becomes slower and requires more focused attention

Question 7

Are all features of in image, object, etc. equivalent?

Answer 7

no, sad pops out over happy

the amygdala is primed to detect fear-related stimuli

Question 8

What is the spotlight analogy of attention

Answer 8

we have a mental spotlight, it may be unconscious in that we are not aware of the process or conscious as we scan our memory

spotlight can be directed and shifted to specific stimuli, enhancing whatever the spotlight is on and leaving others in teh dark

Question 9

Distinguish between automatic and attentive processing

Answer 9

automatic = unconsciously and involuntarily, operate independently
bottom-up processing - driven by external stimuli
data driven - directly responds to sensory input
ex. stopping at a red light

attentive processing = conscious and effortful
top-down processing = relies on prior knowledge, conceptually driven
ex. searching for a street sign while driving

Question 10

Distinguish between a feature search and a conjunction search

Answer 10

feature search = cognitive strategy which sensory stimuli are scanned for a specific feature (ex. colour) (bottom-up)
conjunction search = involves finding a target that is defined by a combination of two or more features (top-down)

Question 11

Discuss Treisman’s model of visual searching

Answer 11

emphasizes the role of features and focused attention in recognizing objects among distractors
occurs in 2 stages:
1. pre-attentive = automatically processes basic features without requiring focused attention, unconsciously
2. focused attention = when multiple features combined are required to identify an object, attention acts as a mental spotlight, slower

Question 12

what is the physiological evidence that there are processes like attention? Examples?

Answer 12

monkeys trained to attend to specific stimuli to receive a reward, V4 stimuli responded equally to both at the start, then after training neurons responded selectively to stimuli in the reward location

monkeys were trained to distinguish between lines of different orientations, during easier tasks neurons fired less, during difficult tasks neurons increased firing and more selective

neurons in pulvinar appear to play role in guiding attention based on significance of stimuli

Question 13

What is the PET evidence of attention-like processes? Examples?

Answer 13

require specific brain regions depending on type of attention task and sensory modality

Question 14

Discuss the Posner and Peterson theory of attention, including the revised version discussed in class

Answer 14

3 central concepts:
1. attention system is anatomically separate from sensory systems
2. is not a single process, includes networks
3. form 3 distinct networks = alerting, orienting, executive (3 separate but interconnected networks)

Question 15

Where are the images located in the brain

Question 16

Distinguish between internal and external imagery

Answer 16

internal = visualize something within your mind, from own perspective ex. remembering a face

external = mental reconstruction or perception of external events, outside

Question 17

What is consciousness

Answer 17

the level of responsiveness of the mind to impressions made by the senses

Question 18

What is synchrony and how does it relate attention

Answer 18

synchronization of neural discharges in neutral networks that represent the same object/event
using binding mechanism

Question 19

What is inattention

Answer 19

failure to notice/respond to stimuli due to distraction/cognitive overload

Question 20

What types of inattention are there

Answer 20

1. inattentional blindness = missing unexpected tasks while focused on another
2. change blindness = failing to detect change when unexpected
3. attentional blink = missing a second target after it appears quickly after the first one

Question 21

What is a proposed neural basis of consciousness

Answer 21

thought to arise from multiple neural systems, binding is crucial and synchronizing, neurons firing together in the gamma range help with recognizing things

Question 22

Why are we conscious

Answer 22

evolved due to adaptive advantages and helping make decisions

theories suggests that consciousness broadcasts information across the brain for better decision-making

Question 23

What neural substrates are necessary for consciousness

Answer 23

frontoparietal network, parietal cortex (integrate info), claustrum (connects all cortical regions + role in binding)

Question 24

What could account for inattention?

Answer 24

damage to the right parietal cortex causes neglect causes neglect of left side of space

Question 25

What is the role of the PFC in divided attention?

Answer 25

PFC helps switch focus between tasks and control the effort required for each, chooses where to direct more attention

Question 26

How are emotion and consciousness linked?

Answer 26

linked through overlapping brain regions in medial frontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex involved in self-awareness
severe impairment in emotion experience would compromise consciousness

Question 27

What is the difference between attention and consciousness?

Answer 27

attention = specific features of the world
consciousness = gist of the world

Question 28

What is a priority map

Answer 28

neural representations that guide and prioritize attention toward specific objects/locations based on importance/relevance

Question 29

Where are priority maps proposed to be?

Answer 29

posterior parietal cortex, lateral intraparietal and medial intraparietal areas

Question 30

How are priority maps created

Answer 30

combining bottom-up (stand out stimuli) and top-down signals (looking for a specific object)

sensory info processed in visual cortex, integrated in parietal cortex and prefrontal cortex

Question 31

In what way(s) is consciousness not always the same?

Answer 31

evolves with age, dementia, sleep-wake cycle (not constant throughout the day)

Question 32

What is Tononi’s Integrated Information Theory of consciousness?

Answer 32

1. (intrinsic existence) consciousness is real
2. (composition) is structured, multiple distinctions
3. (information) is specific
4. (integration) unified
5. (exclusion) definite in context

Question 33

Tononi’s argues that consciousness is unified. What does that mean?

Answer 33

experiences are of a whole visual scene rather than independent left and right sides

Question 34

What are the 4 requisite processes of general theory of neural basis of consciousness

Answer 34

1. arousal - waking the brain
2. perception - detection and binding of sensory features
3. attention - selection of a restricted sample of all info
4. working memory - short term storage of ongoing events

Question 35

What is Global Neuronal Workspace Theory?

Answer 35

consciousness arises when information is widely broadcasted across brain regions, enabling integrated processing

for something to become conscious, needs to be spread out and accessible, consciousness comes from the brain working as a whole

Question 36

What message can you extract from Adrian Owen’s studies of unconscious patients. What did he do?

Answer 36

used fMRI and found that despite patients appearing unresponsive, showed brain activity patterns
could still respond yes or no by modulating their brain activity
traditional methods of assessing consciousness might not be enough, not always visible through behaviour alone

Question 37

What are the 3 networks of attention

Answer 37

1. alerting = alertness and readiness
2. orienting = directs attention to specific stimuli
3. executive = controls and manages higher level cognitive processes

Question 38

Distinguish between Kahneman’s two thinking systems

Answer 38

1. automatic/intuitive thinking system = low attention demand, operates quickly and automatically
2. controlled/analytical thinking system = effortful and slow, high attention demand, complex tasks