Chapter 4 Flashcards
What is attention?
Taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of several simultaneously possibly objects of trains of thought.
What are the 2 main aspects of consciousness for attention?
Focalization and concentration
What are the 6 varieties of attention?
External
Internal
Overt
Covert
Divided
Sustained
External attention
Attending to stimuli in world
Internal attention
one line of thought over another
selecting one response over another
Overt attention
Directing a sense organ toward a stimulus, like pointing eyes or turning head
Covert attention
Attending without giving an outward sign you are doing so
Divided attention
Splitting attention between two stimuli
Sustained attention
Continuously monitoring some stimulus
Why do we need attention
There are a lot of inputs at once. Lets us restrict processing to a subset of things, ideas, places, or moments
What is the study of attention primarily concerned with
Cognitive resources and their limitations
What is selective attention
Form of attention involved when processing is restricted to a subset of the possible stimuli
What is the cocktail party effect
In a cocktail party, a person couldnt attend to all conversations taking place at once. However, everyone has the ability to selectively listen to one convo, leading the rest to become unattended to and therefore background noise
What question does the dichotic listening task seek to solve
How much information do we process about things we arent paying attention to
Describe the dichotic listening task
Different messages simultaneously presented to right and left ears via headphones. Participants asked to repeat aloud (shadow) just one of them
What is a bottleneck theory of attention
Broadbents filter theory
What are the two aspects of broadbents filter theory
Filter selects one message to process
Selection occurs early, before meaning is processed
What is the problem with broadbents filter theory
The cocktail party effect
What are the two limitations of broadbents filter theory
Shadowing performance disrupted when listener hears own name in unattended message
People notice/remember hearing their name even if in a message that’s supposed to be blocked by attention filter
What is the modified filter theory called
Attenuation
Who founded the attenuation theory
Anne Treisman
What are the three aspects of the attenuation theory
Unattended messages not completely blocked
turn down the volume on unattended messages
Selection based partly on meaning
What are the two other approaches to attention theory
Spotlight model
Zoom lens model
What is the spotlight model
Attention restricted in space and moves from one point to the next. Areas within spotlight receive extra processing
What is the zoom lens model
The attended region grows/shrinks depending on size of area being processed
Explain kahneman’s view of attention as a resource
Availability of mental resources affected by state of arousal
Choose to allocate attention based on enduring preferences, momentary intentions, and evaluation of capacity demands
What does arousal determine according to Kahneman’s view of attention
Amount of resources that are available to allocation
Who founded the schema theory of attention
Neisser
Describe the schema theory of attention
We dont filter or attenuate unwanted material, we just dont acquire it in the first place
Many unexpected events are never noticed
Describe the Neisser and Becklen 1975 study
Subjects watch 40 second clip and are told to pay attention to the players in the black shirt, counting the number of times they bass the basketball
A woman walking with an umbrella is shown at the end of the clip. Subjects are asked if they noticed her.
What is inattentional blindness
Failure to notice a fully-visible, unexpected object because attention was engaged on another task, event, or object
What is change blindness
change in visual stimulus is introduced and observer doesnt notice.
What is divided attention
The ability to integrate in parallel multiple stimuli
What is divided attention synonymous with
Multi-tasking
What is the objective when teaching the skill of divided attention
Improve learner’s ability to attend to 2+ things at once
What are the two aspects of the attention hypothesis of automatization
Attention needed during practice phase
Attention determines what gets learned
Who founded the attention hypothesis of automatization
Logan and Etherton
How does attention relate to magic
Magic is a game of attention, and it is based on the idea that people cannot simultaneously focus attention on multiple tasks
What happens with practice
Activities require less cognitive capacity
What is the Stroop effect
cognitive interference - delay in reaction time occurs due to mismatch in stimuli
What is an example of the stroop effect
A color spelled out, but the text is in a color other than the one spelled
What are the three characteristics of automatic processing
Occurs without intention
Occurs without conscious awareness
Doesnt interfere with other mental activity
What is the feature integration theory
Theory that we perceive objects in two distinct stages
What is the first stage of feature integration theory
Automatic stage - register features like color/shape
What is the second stage of feature integration theory
Combine features into a unified object
What happens when attention is divided/overloaded in terms of the feature integration theory (and what is this called)
Illusory conjunction - We make errors in gluing features together
What is an example of illusory conjunction
If we see a red Honda and a blue Cadillac, we may remember seeing a red Cadillac
Who developed the feature integration theory
Anne Treisman
What did Anne Treisman tudy
The role of attention and automaticity in perception
What two types of research practices are involved in feature integration theory
Single feature search
Conjunction search
What is an example of an attentional capture
A single number pops out against a background of letters, regardless of how many letters there are
What type of process is an attentional capture
Bottom up process
What is covert attention
Paying attention without moving eyes
What is overt attention
Selectively processing one location over others by moving eyes to point at that location
How does covert attention operate
Outside the center of gaze, shifting neural resources away from the foveola
How are neural resources shifted away from foveola in covert attention
Enhanced spatial resolution, discrimination, and processing speed of stimuli at the attended location
What is endogenous attention
Attention directed toward stimulus voluntarily
What is exogenous attention
Attention automatically and rapidly drawn toward a stimulus
How long does endogenous attention take
> 300ms
How long does exogenous attention take
150ms or less
What tool is used for studying selective attention in the laboratory
Cuing
What are the two types of cues
Symbolic and stimulus
Symbolic cues
Orient attention toward another location
Stimulus cues
Orient attention to the stimulated location
What is the reaction time definition in cuing
A measure of the time from onset of a stimulus to response
What is a cue
A stimulus that might indicate where/what a subsequent stimulus will be
What are the three ways cues can be portrayed
Valid (correct info)
Invalid (incorrect info)
Neutral (uninformative)
What is the posner cueing paradigm
probe detection experiment where spatial validity between cue location and target location is manipulated
What are the reaction times in the posner cueing paradigm
Shorter on valid cue trials (target present at cued location)
Longer on invalid cue trials (target present at non-cued location)
What is mindfulness mediation
Stay focused on the moment
What is mindfulness meditation correlated with (2 things)
Higher satisfaction with life and activation of prefrontal cortex
What could attention enhance
The processing of a specific type of stimulus
What two types of stimuli have enhanced processing when paid attention to
Fusiform face area
Parahippocampal place area
What is the fusiform face area
An area in fusiform gyrus of human extrastriate cortex that responds preferentially to faces in fMRI studies
What is the parahippocampal place area
Region of cortex in temporal lobe of humans that appears to respond strongly to images of places (as opposed to isolated objects)
What is an example of a disorder of visual attention
Neglext
What is neglect and how is it caused
Visual field defect where one side of the world is not attended to as a result of damage to the parietal lobe
When is neglect most prominenet and long-lasting
After damage to the right hemisphere of the brain, particularly following a stroke
What are individuals with right sided brain damage unaware of
Objects to their left
What is a contralesional field
Visual field on the side opposite of a brain lesion
Give an example of contralesional field
Points to left of fixation are contralesional to damage to right hemisphere of brain
What is ipsilateral field
Visual field on the same side as brain lesion
What happens neurologically when a person demonstrates visual neglect
Although stimuli to neglected side isnt reported, it may be processed to a substantial degree- to the level of its identity or meaning
What have functional imaging studies demonstrated in terms of visual neglect
Activation in intact early visual areas even when patients have no conscious awareness for visual stimuli
