Chapter 9 Flashcards
attention
characteristics associated with consciousness, awareness, and cognitive effort as they relate to performance
central-resource theories of attention
attention-capacity theories that propose one central source (i.e. CNS) of attention resources for which all activities requiring attention compete
arousal
general state of excitability of a person, involving physiological, emotional, and mental systems.
multiple-resource theories
theories of attention proposing that there are several attention resource mechanisms, each of which is related to a specific information-processing activity and is limited in how much information it can process simultaneously
dual-task procedure
an experimental procedure used in the study of attention to determine the amount of attention required to perform an action;
assessing the degree of interference caused by one task when a person is simultaneously performing another task
attentional focus
the direction of attention to specific characteristics in a performance environment, or to action-preparation activities
includes width and direction of focus
action effect hypothesis
the proposition that actions are best planned and controlled by their intended effects.
action effect hypothesis and attentional focus (Prinz, 1997)
this hypothesis proposes that the learning and performance of skills are optimized when the performer’s attention is directed to the intended outcome of the action rather than on the movements themselves
automaticity
indicates that a person performs a skill, or engages in certain information-processing activities, with little or no demands on attention capacity
related to amount of practice
selective attention
the term used to refer to the detection and selection of performance-related information in the performance environment
visual search
the process of directing visual attention to locate relevant info in the environment that will enable a person to determine how to prepare and perform a skill in a specific situation.
Filter Theory
aka bottleneck theory
difficulty doing multiple tasks simultaneously because of inability to serially process multiple stimuli
Resource capacity theories
difficulty doing multiple tasks simultaneously because of limited availability of resources needed to carry out tasks
Kahneman’s Attention theory (KAT)
is an example of central resource capacity theory
equates attention with cognitive effort
proposed flexible attention capacity limits
KAT states the amount of attention capacity available is related to
arousal level
KAT: 3 rules people use to allocate attention resources when performing multiple tasks
- ensure completion of at least one task
- enduring dispositions: (involuntary allocations, meaningfulness of the event)
- momentary intentions (allocate attention according to instructions)
specific information needed to multiple resource theory
sensory input (visual, proprioceptive)
response output (verbal, motor)
type of memory code (spatial, verbal)
dual task procedures (primary and secondary)
primary tasks: task of interest
secondary: the basis to make inferences about the attention demands of the primary task
width of focus
focus can be broad to narrow
direction of focus
focus can be external or internal
attention switching
the changing of attentional focus
automaticity in relation to Kahneman’s theory
relates to evaluation of task demands
Different brain areas are active when tasks are not (Poldrak, 2005)
automatized
ex. of visual selective attention
bowling.
using visual attention to search and locate relevant information (cues)
how to record a person’s visual selective attention
eye movement recordings
tracking a person’s ‘point of gaze’ (locus of central vision)
relationship between eye movements and visual selective attention
no it is proven attention can focused on something that is in the periphery.
although a change in eye tracking (central focus) comes with a change in attention
visual search and intended actions
looking for regulatory conditions that will allow you to complete the intended action
visual search patterns differ based on action goal
visual search information influences what 3 aspects of action preparation
action selection
constraining of the selected action
timing of the action initiation
the quiet eye
final fixation just before movement initiation
directed to critical location
stable fixation of gee
onset occurs before 1st movement
duration is longer in elite performers
demonstrated in close and open skills
is there a relationship between successful visual search and visual acuity
none to very little relationship
visual search success is based on experience in specific performance situations
