Chapter 3: Attention Flashcards
Attention
A system involved in the selection and prioritisation of information processing.
1. Directed intentionally
2. Cuptured unintentionally.
There is not a specific definition. Multiple brain areas are involved.
Capture
The ability of one source of information to take processing priority from another.
Function of Attention
Shneider (selectivity in visual perception):
- Selection for perception–> encoding and interpreting sensory data.
- Selection for action–> necessary for planning, controling and executing responses or actions..
Binding
An important function of attention is to bind together what an object is, together with where it is and how to act on it.
Binding problem
The problem of how different properties of an item are correctly put together, or bound, into the correct combination.
Controlled attention (endogenous)
It is a top down process because it is influenced by a goal we have set ourselves. It is under conscious intentional control.
Exogenous Attention
Is stimulus-driven, where incoming bottom-up stimuli trigger automatic processing which cannot controlled intentionally.
Psychological Refractory Period (PRP)
Welford
At short inter-stimulus intervals, RT to the 2nd stimulus is slower. Bottleneck: the processing of the second stimulus must be wait until the processing of the 1st stimulus is completed. This is a limitation of our system to process more than one set of information concurrently.
Bottleneck
Perceptual properties of a message are processed without attention, but the meaning without attention is not processed. Bottleneck is located at a point after perceptual processing has taken place, but before the meaning.
Filter model
It assumes a filter between the perceptual input system (sensory-pararell) and a limited capacity channel (identification level, serially).
Early Selection Theory
If a stimuli do not get passed on to the identification stage, they remain unattented. Selective attention that operates on the physical info availabe from early perceptual analysis.
Breackthrough of the unattended message
The ability of info to capture conscious awareness despite being unatended. The filter was not preventing the activation of sematics.
Late Selection
Deutsch & Deutsch
An acount of selective processing where attention operates after all stimuli have been analysed for their sematic properties.
Masking
The disruptive effect of an auditory or visual pattern that is presented immediately after an auditory or visual stimulus.
Negative Priming
It refers to the finding that the RT to categorise a target item will be slowed if that same item has been presented on the privious trial as a distractor item which was to be ignored.
Saccade
The movement of the eyes during which information uptake is suppressed. Between saccades the eye makes fixations during which there is information uptake the fixated area.
Overt attentioanal Orienting
Making an eye movement to attend to a location.
Fixation
When the fovea of the eye dwells on a location in visual space, during which time information is collected.
Orienting
In the spolight model of visual attention this is attention to regions of space that does not depend upon eye movements.
Covert attentional orienting
Orienting attention without making any movement of the eyes.
Posner and other related experiments:
Two systems of visual attention: endogenous & exogenous.
Exogenous: One a bottom-up stimulus, driven pathway involved in exogenous attention which is specialised for detectiong unexpected behaviourally relevant stimuli. This pathway can interrupt the endogenous one.
Endogenous: a top-down process which is involved in the top-down, goal-directed preperation and control of attention.
Gaze-mediated orienting
An exogenous shift of attention following the direction of a face presented at fixation.
