cognitive psychology Flashcards
attention quote (1)
Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking
possession of the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one
out of what seem several simultaneously possible
objects or trains of thought. Focalization,
concentration of consciousness are of its essence.
(William James, 1890)
quote (2)
“My experience is what I agree to attend to. Only those items which I notice shape my mind - without selective interest, experience is an utter chaos.”
quote (3)
When the things are apprehended by
the senses, the number of them that
can be attended to at once is small.”
quote 4 - attention vs fixation
Attention is not the same as fixation
Herman von Helmholtz (1866) & William James (1890)
covert attenion
Covert attention without an eye movement
overt attention
Overt attention with a shift of eyes and gaze
first study on covert attention who?
Herman von Helmholtz’s Study of Covert Attention (1894)
Card 1: Definition
Q: What is covert attention?
A: The ability to focus mentally on a specific area in the visual field without moving the eyes.
Card 2: Helmholtz’s Experiment
Q: What experimental method did Helmholtz use to study covert attention?
A: He illuminated a grid of letters briefly and observed how participants reported letters from their focused area.
Card 3: Key Finding
Q: What was the key finding of Helmholtz’s study of covert attention?
A: Humans can selectively attend to parts of their visual field independently of where their eyes are looking.
Q: Why was Helmholtz’s study significant?
A: It was one of the first to demonstrate that attention and eye movements are separate processes.
Q: What is visual attention?
A: The selection of part of the visual environment for enhanced processing, linking perception to action.
Q: Why are we only aware of part of the visual environment at any one time?
A: The brain processes only a limited portion of the visual array to focus on relevant objects (James, 1890).
Q: How does attention affect perception?
A: Attended objects are processed more richly and appear more prominent in our awareness.
Q: What is the link between visual attention and action?
A: Paying attention to an object enhances our ability to act on it, such as reaching or grasping (Findlay & Gilchrist, 2003).
Q: What was the main focus of Posner’s study?
A: To demonstrate how covert attention enhances processing efficiency for visual stimuli.
Q: What were the three trial types in Posner’s study?
A:
Valid Trials: Cue correctly indicated the target location.
Invalid Trials: Cue incorrectly indicated the target location.
Neutral Trials: Cue provided no location information.
Q: What did Posner’s study reveal about attention and reaction times?
A:
Reaction times were faster for valid trials.
Reaction times were slower for invalid trials, showing the cost of misdirected attention.
Q: What does Posner’s study suggest about covert attention?
A: Covert attention helps prioritize specific areas of the visual field, enhancing response speed and accuracy.
Card 1: Covert Attention
Q: What is covert attention?
A: Shifting attention to a specific location without moving the eyes.
Q: How did Posner measure attention in his study?
A: Participants fixated on a central cross while responding to peripheral target onset, preceded by valid or invalid cues
Q: What are the two types of cues in Posner’s study?
Exogenous (peripheral): Brightening of a box, automatic and fast.
Endogenous (central): Symbolic cues like arrows, voluntary and slower.
Q: What are the costs and benefits of cues in Posner’s study?
A:
Benefit: Faster RTs for valid cues (target appears where indicated).
Cost: Slower RTs for invalid cues (target appears opposite to cue).
Q: How do exogenous and endogenous cues differ in their time-course?
A:
Exogenous cues: Rapidly/ AUTOMATICALY attract attention but fade quickly.
Endogenous cues: Slower to attract attention but last longer.
Card 1: Definition of Endogenous Cue
Q: What is an endogenous cue?
A: A centrally presented, symbolic cue (e.g., an arrow) that requires conscious interpretation to direct attention.
Card 2: Cue Validity
Q: What are the three cue conditions in Posner’s study with endogenous cues?
A:
Valid Cue: Correctly predicts the target’s location.
Invalid Cue: Incorrectly predicts the target’s location.
Neutral: Provides no directional information.
Q: How do valid and invalid endogenous cues affect reaction times?
300 ms for invalid, 260 ish for neutral and below 250 for valid
Q: What was the goal of Jonides’ (1981) study?
A: To determine if exogenous attention is automatic and resistant to suppression compared to endogenous attention.
Q: What are the two types of cues used in Jonides’ study?
A:
Exogenous (Peripheral) Cues: Brightening or flashing at potential target locations.
Endogenous (Central) Cues: Arrows pointing toward potential target locations.
Q: What were participants told to do in Jonides’ study?
A: Ignore the cues and respond only to the target.
Q: How did exogenous cues affect attention in Jonides’ study?
A: Exogenous cues attracted attention automatically, even when participants were instructed to ignore them.
Q: How did endogenous cues affect attention in Jonides’ study?
A: Endogenous cues did not attract attention automatically and required voluntary control.
Q: What did Jonides’ study reveal about exogenous and endogenous attention?
A:
Exogenous Attention: Automatic and difficult to suppress.
Endogenous Attention: Voluntary and influenced by instructions.
3 theories of visual attention
- Spotlight (Posner, 1980)
- Zoom-lens (Eriksen & St. James, 1986)
- Pre-motor theory (Rizzolatti et al., 1987, 1994)
Q: What are the three stages of Posner’s Spotlight Model of attention?
A: Disengage, Move, Engage.
Q: What are the two systems involved in orienting attention?
A:
Dorsal System (Top-Down): Goal-directed attention shifts.
Ventral System (Bottom-Up): Responds to external, salient events.
Card 3: Dorsal System
Q: Which brain areas are part of the dorsal attention system?
A: Intraparietal Sulcus (IPS), Superior Parietal Lobe (SPL), Frontal Eye Fields (FEF).
Q: What does the ventral attention system respond to, and which brain areas are involved?
A:
Responds to salient external events.
Includes Temporoparietal Junction (TPJ) and Ventral Frontal Cortex (VPC).
Q: What are the two networks involved in executive control of attention?
A:
Fronto-Parietal Network: Task-switching and task implementation.
Cingulo-Opercular Network: Task maintenance and error monitoring.
Q: How does the norepinephrine system contribute to attention?
A: Increases alertness via activity in the locus coeruleus, with right hemisphere dominance.
Card 1: Definition of the Zoom Lens Model
Q: What does the Zoom Lens Model of Attention propose?
A: Attention functions like a zoom lens, adjusting its focus to be narrow or broad depending on task demands.
Card 2: Narrow vs. Broad Focus
Q: How do narrow and broad attentional focuses differ in efficiency?
A:
Narrow Focus: More efficient and detailed for a small area.
Broad Focus: Less efficient and distributed across a wider area.
Card 3: LaBerge’s Experiment
Q: What task was used in LaBerge’s (1983) experiment?
A: A lexical decision task where participants categorized words or letters at different spatial locations.
Card 4: Results of LaBerge’s Study
Q: What were the results of LaBerge’s experiment regarding focus?
A:
V shaped function deom 550-580 ms reaction times for letter. under 500 consistent for word
Card 5: Implication of the Zoom Lens Model
Q: What does the Zoom Lens Model suggest about attention’s adaptability?
A: Attention is flexible and adjusts its scope based on task requirements. Attention can be narrowly focused or widely distributed
Q: What is the key distinction between covert and overt attention according to Posner (1980)?
A:
Overt Attention: Involves shifts of attention accompanied by eye movements.
Covert Attention: Involves shifting attention without moving the eyes, independent of the eye movement system.
Overt Attention
Q: What evidence challenges Posner’s view on the independence of covert attention?
A: Evidence suggests that covert and overt attention systems may be closely related, with covert attention often preceding and guiding overt eye movements.
Card 1: Purpose of Attention (what and where)
Q: What is the primary function of attention?
A: To select relevant information, allocate resources, and guide goal-directed actions.
Card 2: What Pathway
Q: What does the ventral stream process, and where does it lead?
A: Processes object recognition (the “what”) and runs to the temporal lobe.
Card 3: Where/How Pathway
Q: What does the dorsal stream process, and where does it lead?
A: Processes spatial information and visually guided actions (the “where/how”) and runs to the parietal lobe.
Card 4: Key Studies
Q: Who proposed the dual-stream theory and its extension?
A:
Ungerleider and Mishkin (1982): Proposed the “what” and “where” pathways.
Milner and Goodale (1995, 2006): Redefined the dorsal stream as the “how” pathway
Flashcard 2: Saccadic Eye Movements
Q: What are saccadic eye movements?
A: Rapid, jerky eye movements that redirect gaze, enabling quick shifts in visual focus.
A: They compensate for decreased visual acuity in the periphery by moving the eyes to bring objects into the fovea, where acuity is highest.
Flashcard 3: Link Between Attention and Saccades
Q: How are attention and saccadic eye movements related?
A: Attention typically precedes saccades, selecting the next fixation point (Findlay and Gilchrist, 2003).
Q: What happens to visual acuity as retinal eccentricity increases?
A: Visual acuity decreases with increased retinal eccentricity, meaning peripheral details are less sharp.
Card 3: Study by Anstis (1974)
Q: What did Anstis (1974) demonstrate about saccadic movements?
A: Saccadic movements are driven by the need to center objects in the fovea due to variations in acuity across the visual field.
Card 1: Shared Neural Systems
Q: How are covert and overt attention related in terms of neural systems?
A: They are believed to use the same neural systems for planning and executing actions like eye movements and reaching.
Card 2: Premotor Theory of Attention
Q: What does the Premotor Theory of Attention suggest?
A: Attention and motor planning are tightly linked, with covert attention activating motor systems even without movement.
Card 3: Research and Controversy
Q: What is controversial about the link between covert and overt attention?
A: Some researchers question whether they are fully linked, suggesting covert and overt attention may have distinct mechanisms (Smith & Schenk, 2012).
Card 1: Sequential Attentional Model - Assumptions
Q: What are the four key assumptions of Henderson’s Sequential Attentional Model?
A:
Covert attention starts at fixation.
Shifts to a new location after identifying the object.
Saccade programming follows the shift.
Higher-level processing begins at the new location after the saccade.
Card 2: Yoking of Covert and Overt Attention
Q: How are covert and overt attention linked in Henderson’s model?
A: Covert and overt attention are yoked; covert attention can only focus on one location, and only one saccade can be programmed at a time.
Card 3: Parafoveal Processing in Reading
Q: What is an example of parafoveal processing benefits during reading?
A: Information about the next word is gathered during fixation, enabling skipping of high-frequency short words like “and” or “the.”
Q: How does parafoveal processing benefit object scanning?
A: When multiple objects are presented together, fixation time per object decreases due to preview effects.
Q: 4 names of the assumptions
- initial fixation
- shift of covert attention
- saccade programming
- higher-level processing
Q: What is the core idea of the Premotor Theory of Attention?
A: Covert attention uses the same neural mechanisms as those involved in planning and executing actions like saccades or reaching.
Card 2: Saccade Trajectory Modulation
Q: How does covert attention affect saccade trajectories?
A: Covert attention causes saccades to curve away from the attended location, showing its influence on eye-movement programming (Rizzolatti et al., 1994).
Card 3: Neural Overlap in Attention and Action
Q: What evidence supports the overlap between neural systems for attention and action?
A: Brain areas like the frontal eye fields and intraparietal sulcus are active during both covert attention shifts and movement planning.
Card 1: Shared Brain Areas in Attention and Eye Movements
Q: Which brain areas are shared between eye movement control and attention?
A: Frontal Eye Fields (FEF), Lateral Intraparietal Area (LIP), and Superior Colliculus (SC).
Card 2: Functional Imaging Evidence for Overlap
Q: What regions show overlap between covert and overt attention tasks?
A: Frontal Eye Fields (FEF), Superior Parietal Lobe, and Intraparietal Sulcus (Corbetta & Shulman, 1998, 2002; de Haan et al., 2008).
Card 3: Functional Roles of Brain Areas
Q: What are the roles of FEF, LIP, and SC in attention and eye movements?
A:
FEF: Directs saccadic eye movements and covert attention shifts.
LIP: Handles spatial attention and eye movement planning.
SC: Manages both overt and covert spatial attention.
Card 1: Micro-Stimulation of FEFs
Q: What was the effect of mild electrical stimulation of the frontal eye fields (FEFs) in Moore and Armstrong’s (2003) study?
A: It enhanced the firing rate of neurons in the visual cortex (V4), showing that attention can modulate visual processing.
Moore and Armstorngs 2003 study method.
Method:
Mild electrical stimulation was applied to the frontal eye fields (FEFs), an area involved in controlling eye movements and attention
