chapter 7 (M. Wolfe)

Question 1

What is attention?

Answer 1

Attention is a single term that refers to many different functions. It is any of a large set of selective processes in the brain. At its heart, attention is the differential processing of some stimuli and not others.

Question 2

What is the binding problem?

Answer 2

The challenge of tying different attributes of visual stimuli (e.g., color, orientation, motion), which are handled by different brain circuits, to the appropriate object so that we perceive a unified object (e.g., red, vertical, moving right).

Question 3

what is change blindness?

Answer 3

The failure to notice a change between two scenes. If the gist, or meaning, of the scene is not altered, quite large changes can pass unnoticed.

Question 4

what is conjunction search?

Answer 4

Search for a target defined by the presence of two or more attributes (e.g., a red, vertical target among red horizontal and blue vertical distractors).

Question 5

What is CUE?

Answer 5

A stimulus that might indicate where (or what) a subsequent stimulus will be. Can be valid (giving correct information), invalid (incorrect), or neutral (uninformative)

Question 6

What are ensemble statistics?

Answer 6

The average and distribution of properties like orientation or color over a set of objects or over a region in a scene

Question 7

Describe feature search

Answer 7

Search for a target defined by a single attribute, such as a salient color or orientation.

Question 8

fusiform face area (FFA)

Answer 8

A region of extrastriate visual cortex in humans that is specifically and reliably activated by human faces.

Question 9

Describe guided search

Answer 9

Search in which attention can be restricted to a subset of possible items on the basis of information about the target item’s basic features

Question 10

Describe illusory conjunction

Answer 10

An erroneous combination of two features in a visual scene—for example, seeing a red X when the display contains red letters and Xs but no red Xs

Question 11

What is inhibition of return?

Answer 11

The relative difficulty in getting attention (or the eyes) to move back to a recently attended (or fixated) location

Question 12

what is the parahippocampal place area (PPA)?

Answer 12

A region of extrastriate visual cortex in humans that is specifically and reliably activated more by images of places than by other stimuli.

Question 13

What is rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP)?

Answer 13

An experimental procedure in which stimuli appear in a stream at one location (typically the point of fixation) at a rapid rate (typically about eight per second).

Question 14

What is scene-based guidance?

Answer 14

Information in our understanding of scenes that helps us find specific objects in scenes (e.g., objects do not float in air, faucets are near sinks).

Question 15

What is spatial layout?

Answer 15

The description of the structure of a scene (e.g., enclosed, open, rough, smooth) without reference to the identity of specific objects in the scene.

Question 16

What is visual-field defect?

Answer 16

A portion of the visual field with no vision or with abnormal vision, typically resulting from damage to the visual nervous system.

Question 17

How is extinction related to neglect?

Answer 17

Extinction might be neglect in a milder form. Extinction is the inability to perceive a stimulus in the presence of another stimulus, typically in a comparable position in the other visual field. Neglect is a more severe disorder, in which the entire contralesional field might be affected.

Question 18

What are the two stages of feature integration theory?

Answer 18

1) The preattentive stage, which refers to the processing of stimuli that occurs before selective attention is deployed to any particular stimulus; and 2) The attentive stage, which refers to processing that requires the deployment of attention to a particular stimulus or location