Chapter 5: Attention

Question 1

What is Unilateral neglect syndrome

Answer 1

result of damage to the parietal cortex, patients ignore all inputs coming from one side of the body. Most of the time the right parietal cortex.

Question 2

Define inattentional blindness

Answer 2

You only see/hear things where when you pay attention, rest falls away

Question 3

What is dichotic listing?

Answer 3

Attended and unattended channel

Question 4

What is a exception for inattention blindness audiotory?

Answer 4

Due to lowered threshold on detectors you can hear your name on the unattended channel, know whether is was voice or music. Also called Cocktailparty effect

Question 5

What is selective attention?

Answer 5

the skill through which a person focuses on one input or task while ignoring other stimuli. Implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others

Question 6

What is shadowing and what is it’s purpose?

Answer 6

repeating back a stimuli (which is close to perfect), focusing attention there on, proving that other stimuli will often not be given attention to/noted

Question 7

What is inattentional blindness (what can be the result?

Answer 7

people fail to see a prominent stimuli even when starting at it

Question 8

What happens with inattentional blindness?

Answer 8

So absorbed in other thoughts they become blind to otherwise important stimuli

Question 9

Define change blindness

Answer 9

inability to detect changes in scenes people are looking at (due to limited resources changes are not detected)

Question 10

What is the early-selection hypothesis?

Answer 10

Unattended input is not analysed or hardly; unattended input receives little analysis and is therefore never perceived/concious while attended input gets priority

Question 11

What is the late-selection hypothesis?

Answer 11

All inout is analysed but we are only aware of the attend input ;
Both attended and unattended input are analysed and selection occurs after analysis

Question 12

Is there a proof for either early- of late- selection hypothesis?

Answer 12

No, different researches show different findings. (Müller-Lyers illusion for example and brain activity) => Both true.

Question 13

How does selection depends on resources?

Answer 13

Complex stimuli involve more effort, leading to early selection while easy stimuli involve less effort, leading to late selection

Question 14

What is the function of priming?

Answer 14

Lowering threshold of detector leading to easier recognition. “you know what to expect”

Question 15

Give the two types of priming:

Answer 15

Stimulus and expectation

Question 16

Define stimulus/repition-based priming

Answer 16

stimulus warms up detector => when same stimulus is presented, reaction is faster; costs no resources

Question 17

Define expectation-based priming

Answer 17

expectation warms up detectors => when expectation is met reaction is faster; does have a cost

Question 18

Define the limited-capacity system and where it came from;

Answer 18

There is a limit in the amount of resources mentally, you cannot do more than your resources allow.

Question 19

Why is there a cost associated with being misled by expectation based priming?

Answer 19

You spend some resources on the expected detector, which makes you divide less resources over the other detectors, making you worse off than no priming. Refocussing costs 50ms.

Question 20

Spatial attention:

Answer 20

When you expect a stimuli in a direction you pay spatial attention there, you will notice faster.

Question 21

Attention is based on:

Answer 21

both object-based and location-based

Question 22

Which three brain systems are involved in attention? And where are they located?

Answer 22

Orienting system, alerting system, executive system. All around the brain.

Question 23

What does the orienting system? (3)

Answer 23

disengages attention from a target, shifts it and engages attention to new target

Question 24

What does the alerting system?

Answer 24

achieves and maintains alert state

Question 25

What does the executive system?

Answer 25

controls voluntary actions

Question 26

What influence do control systems have on analysis?

Answer 26

There are different areas for controlling attention and for analysing the input. Control systems influence regions that analyze incoming visual information.

Question 27

How is the spotlight in the mind represented?

Answer 27

Control systems can enable you to adjust your sensitivity to certain outputs.

Question 28

What is endogenous control of attention?

Answer 28

You choose where to pay attention to.

Question 29

What is exogenous control of attention?

Answer 29

Seized your attention

Question 30

What does attention do (in regard to selective attention)

Answer 30

Attention modulates processing of desired input => paying attention in two ways: inhibition of not interested, facilitation of processing of interested

Question 31

Why are you unable to combine some tasks?

Answer 31

Tasks can be combined if the sum does not exceed the resources. Easy tasks cost less resources

Question 32

Are resources task-specific?

Answer 32

Yes

Question 33

When is there especially interference in multi-tasking?

Answer 33

When two tasks need the same response-selector or executive control

Question 34

Why does practice diminishes resources?

Answer 34

As you learn, you learn which will be the next step ==> response selector and executive control are needed less

Question 35

Why do you train:

Answer 35

Tasks are executed faster with fewer errors, combination with other tasks is easier

Question 36

What is the difference between controlled vs automatised tasks?

Answer 36

New VS well practiced
effort, control, resources VS need no control
flexible VS not flexibele

Question 37

Where in the brain is a goal maintained?

Answer 37

prefrontal cortex

Question 38

Which part of the brain detects conflicting actions?

Answer 38

anterior cingulate cortex

Question 39

What does the Executive Control do?

Answer 39

control your own thoughts, keep current goals in mind, mental steps in right sequence, if current actions not towards goal allows to switch plans/strategy

Question 40

What is a preservation error?

Answer 40

producing the same error over and over even when clear other response is needed, due to frontal lesion

Question 41

What is goal neglect

Answer 41

failing to organise actions towards goal (so executive control in prefrontal cortex is damaged)

Question 42

What is the location of the executive control?

Answer 42

Prefrontal cortex