Chapter 4- Attention + Performance

Question 1

attention is a _____ that is ____

Answer 1

limited resource, selective

Question 2

limited (describing attention)

Answer 2

when we multi-task we are not actually thinking of multiple things at once (we can’t do that); we are rather moving between topics very quickly making it appear that we are thinking of multiple things at once

Question 3

selective (describing attention)

Answer 3

we can only concentrate on 1 thing at a time; BUT we can shift between things

Question 4

William James

Answer 4

experimental psychologist that studied introsepction

Question 5

introspection

Answer 5

looking within the self

Question 6

4 types of attention

Answer 6

-attention + consciousness
-attention as effort/arousal
-attention as a capacity/resource
-selective attention

Question 7

attention + consciousness

Answer 7

being unconscious, subconscious, or completely aware
-automatic processing = unconscious
-controlled processing = conscious

Question 8

attention as effort/arousal

Answer 8

attention as an indicator for effort/arousal during motor tasks

Question 9

attention as a capacity/resource

Answer 9

there is only so much attention that we have

Question 10

selective attention

Answer 10

when we very consciously choose to pay attention to 1 thing over others

Question 11

**

2 types of intereference on attention

Answer 11

-structural
-capacity

Question 12

**

structural interference

Answer 12

physical or neurological structures are the source of the decrement

-ex: your hand can only be in 1 location in space- using your GPS on the dash while shifting gears
-ex: detecting 2 simultaneous visual signals in different locations = reduced processing speed

Question 13

**

capacity interference

Answer 13

decrement in performance due to limitation in central capacity (attention)

-distracted driving: perceptual + motor requirements exist for using a phone while driving
-central capacity: refers to CNS, brain specifically

Question 14

**

competition for attention- 3 instances

Answer 14

-Stroop effect
-Cocktail Party phenomenon
-inattentional or change blindness

Question 15

**

selective attention

Answer 15

allocating attention to different inputs/tasks

Question 16

**

intentional selective attention

Answer 16

when we purposefully choose to attend to 1 source of info while avoiding/inhibiting attention to others
-top-down processing
-ex: listening to radio instead of tv or someone talking to us

Question 17

intentional selective attention is top-down or bottom-up processing

Answer 17

top-down

Question 18

**

incidental selective attention

Answer 18

involuntary capture of attention
-bottom-up processing
-ex: loud sound like cars crashing together- did not want to pay attention to it but the sound was so loud that there was no choice

Question 19

incidental selective attention is top-down or bottom-up processing

Answer 19

bottom-up

Question 20

**

Stroop Effect

Answer 20

-subject must name the ink color in which a word is presented
-2 types of words presented: neutral words (ex: house) + word name itself is a color (ex: blue)

-congruency: faster response
-if word name is same as color, we have congruency
-incongruency: delayed response + prone to error
-ex: green

-Nat Geo video on Stroop:
-color processing is through ventral stream
-act of reading is performed in other regions throughout occipital/temporal lobes
-your attention filter is unable to dampen your brain’s instinct to read the word itself + naming the font color becomes different

Question 21

**

Cocktail Party phenomenon

Answer 21

-suggests that all auditory stimuli is processed in parallel + without attention; there is a mechanism to prevent attention from being drawn to unwanted sources of sound
-when the sound is relevant to us, the stimulus can pass through for further processing + attention

Question 22

blindness

Answer 22

the failure to see certain visual stimuli when focusing on other stimuli

Question 23

**

inattentional blindness

Answer 23

represents the failure to process a critical sensory event because subject is so focused on 1 stimuli
-ex: driver looking for a parking spot misses cyclist in front of them because so focused looking for parking spot
-remember video with monkey in background

Question 24

**

change blindness

Answer 24

participants shown a series of still photos or video of a scene in which part of visual display disappears/changes significantly over time
-remember video showing tourist asking people at beach for directions; switch person halfway through + no one noticed

Question 25

**

The Door Study demonstrates which concept

Answer 25

change blindness

-a man asks someone for directions then workers carrying a door passes through them + he switches out with someone else + no one noticed

Question 26

2 types of processing

Answer 26

-controlled
-automatic

Question 27

who came up with controlled/automatic processing

Answer 27

Schneider + Shiffrin

Question 28

controlled processing

Answer 28

-slow
-attention demanding
-serial in nature- 1 after another
-strongly volitional/voluntary- can be stopped/avoided easily

Question 29

automatic processing

Answer 29

-fast
-not attention demanding
-parallel in nature- various operations concurrent
-not volitional/voluntary- often unavoidable

Question 30

internal attentional focus

Answer 30

concentration on body movements, like hand motion in dart throwing or foot position when kicking a soccer ball

Question 31

external attentional focus

Answer 31

directed at intended movement effect, like flight of a Frisbee or corner of soccer goal where player is aiming

Question 32

internal or external foci are more effective

Answer 32

external is more effective
-if I pay attention to the edge of that soccer goal or the flight of the Frisbee, I will be more successful in performing that particular movement

Question 34

**

anxiety

Answer 34

-when stressful conditions become more severe, human performance response can be disrupted
-attention is directed to threat rather than informational sources; visual gaze + search behavior become less effective