Cognitive: Moray on Auditory Attention Flashcards
core study
key theme for moray
attention
context: what are the 2 main methods of studying attention
selective attention
divided attention
context: selective attention
presented with 2 or more ‘simultaneous’ messages, and instructed to process and respond to only one
context: divided attention
dual-task technique where expected to respond to both or all messages
context: Cherry’s study 1953
‘shadowing’ method showed that ptcpts had no recall of message contents from the ‘rejected’ ear
context: shadowing
playing 2 messages to someone at the same time, one to each ear.
listener has to pay attention to one message and repeat it out loud, to ensure it has been heard.
1st experiment aim
to test Cherry’s original results more rigorously
2nd experiment aim
to see if some kinds of messages break through the attentional block to the rejected ear
3rd experiment aim
to see if expectations set may affect the way the message to the rejected ear is processed
1st experiment: design and method
laboratory
repeated measures
1st experiment: IV
the message played to shadowed and rejected ears
1st experiment: DV
recall of words in rejected message
1st experiment: control
list of words not included in either message
1st experiment: sample
male and female undergraduates
1st experiment: procedure (5 steps)
- Before each experiment, ptcpts given 4 passages to shadow for practice
- A short list of simple words presented to ptcpts rejected ear 35 times, whilst a passage of prose presented to shadowed ear and ptcpts had to verbally repeat shadowed message
- ptcpt then given a recognition test where they were shown a list of words and had to pick out the words that they recognised from both the shadowed and rejected ears. Test included some words from control list to ensure ptcpts weren’t making wild guesses about the words they heard.
5.The gap between the end of shadowing and the beginning of the recognition test was about 30 seconds.
1st experiment: results
ptcpts recalled less words from rejected message than from shadowed
2nd experiment: design and method
laboratory
repeated measures
2nd experiment: sample
male and female undergraduates
12 ptcpts
2nd experiment: procedure (3 steps)
- Ptcpts shadowed 10 prose passages in one ear, and had one passage playing to rejected ear, simultaneously.
- The rejected message included instructions for the ptcpt to change ears as well as occasionally including their name. Instructions were inserted randomly “Listen to your right ear: You will receive instructions to change ears.”
- Ptcpts attention measured by how successfully they heard the instruction and shadowing message in the ear that they were instructed to change to.
2nd experiment: results
- When ptcpts heard their name in the instruction, they were able to hear and follow the instructions 20 out of 39 times.
- When participants had instructions with no name, they were able to hear and follow the instructions only 4 times.
3rd experiment: method and design
laboratory
independent measures
3rd experiment: IV 1
whether digits inserted into 1 or 2 messages
3rd experiment: IV 2
whether ptcpts told would be asked questions about just rejected message or remember all digits heard
3rd experiment: DV
number of digits correctly recalled
3rd experiment: sample
male and female undergraduates
28 ptcpts
3rd experiment: procedure (3 steps)
- Two groups of 14 ptcpts shadowed one of two simultaneous messages, just like in the first 2 experiments.
- Digits were inserted to each passage in a random way
3.One group of ptcpts was provided no instruction and told that they would be asked questions about the content of the rejected message at the end, the other group was specifically instructed to remember all the numbers/ digits that they could.
3rd experiment: results
results showed no difference in the mean number of digits recalled correctly between the two set conditions
(This was concluded to be due to the fact that numbers are less important than a persons own name, therefore not strong enough to break though the block.)
