Individual Differences In Attentional Load reader has focused lecture

Question 1

Who introduced the perceptual load model?

Answer 1

Nile Lavie

Question 2

What does the perceptual load model suggest about perception?

Answer 2

Perception is a system with limited capacity, it proceeds automatically until capacity is filled.

• When a task imposes high perceptual load, capacity is reached and distractors cannot be processed which means it does not affect their behaviour. This is consistent with early selection.
• When a task involves low perceptual load, all available stimuli are processed, distractors and targets alike, necessitating Late selection

Question 3

What does perceptual load refer to?

Answer 3

The amount of perceptual stimulation that reaches the senses from environment.

Question 4

What happens to a person under low perceptual load?

Answer 4

• all stimuli that can be processed will be processed including distractors.
• the stimuli we choose to attend to is dictated by Top down factors such as intentions, expectations and memory.

Question 5

What is cognitive load and when does it occur?

Answer 5

Loading of executive functions.

-it occurs when we are under low perceptual load.

Question 6

What is executive function?

Answer 6

A set of mental skills that help you get things done.

Based on gathering information from the world and organise behaviour accordingly.

Guided by top down factors (intentions and expectations)

Question 7

What area of the brain controls executive function?

Answer 7

The frontal lobe.

Question 8

What does an increase in cognitive load cause?

Answer 8

The more the brain is involved in some other tasks the less it can deal with new ones

Question 9

What is the difference between perceptual and cognitive load?

Answer 9

High Perceptual load causes capacity to be full due to high load.
Adding distractors would be irrelevant as it is ignored

High cognitive load increases distractors interference.
Perceptual capacity is not full as there is low load. Which means more distractors are processed.
If executive function is engaged in other cognitive processes then very little can be dedicated to selective attention and we get distracted.

Question 10

What two mechanisms does the perceptual load theory specify for selective attention?

Answer 10

1. Perceptual mechanism: responsible for exclusion of irrelevant information in conditions of high perceptual load. Allocation of resources is automatic, outside the control of the observer.
2. Cognitive mechanisms that governs attentional control in cases of low perceptual load where irrelevant information is presumably available.

Question 11

What does the load theory suggest about its two mechanisms for selective attention?

Answer 11

They are both completely independent and draw a separate pool of resources.

Question 12

How can attentional load vary across individuals?

Answer 12

Aging

Neurological disorders

Mental health

Video gaming

Question 13

How does age affect attentional load?

Answer 13

The frontal lobe is the last part of the brain to develop in young people and the first to deteriorate in old age.

Question 14

What evidence shows us age can affect attentional load?

Answer 14

Increased distractors interferences has been shown in children and the elderly in cases of low perceptual load

Due to perceptual load reaching full capacity quicker and less executive function in elderly and young people can be allocated to selective attention.

-younger children are more likely to be affected by inattetnional blindness compared to older ones.

Question 15

What neurological disorders can effect attentional load?

Answer 15

Autism.

Dysexecutive syndrome

Question 16

How does autism spectrum disorder affect attentional load?

Answer 16

• The disorder causes an increase in attentional capacity.
• extreme high perceptual load is needed in ASD to reduce distractibility.

Children with autism are less susceptible to inattetnional blindness than controls.

Question 17

What is dysexecutive syndrome and what is it caused by?

Answer 17

Damage to the frontal lobe

Characterised by an inability to suppress repsonse to irrelevant distractors

Question 18

How does dysexecutive syndrome affect attentional load?

Answer 18

• Problems in the ability to attend to thoughts and memories.
• problems in paying attention to environmental stimuli- increased distractibility.
• Difficulty maintaining behaviour in line with current goals.

Other symptoms:
Preservation, difficulty to switch tasks, difficulty using feedback, in appropriate social behaviour.

——Less executive function available

Question 19

How does Anxiety affect attentional load?

Answer 19

Attentional Control theory:
-Trait anxiety reduces the influence of goal directed attention and increases stimulus-driven attention allocation.

Hypothesis: even in conditions of strained high perceptual load, highly anxious individual are expected to exhibit greater distractor interference.

Question 20

How does playing video games affect attentional load?

Answer 20

• regular video game action players seem to be less affected by increases in perceptual load.
• Action video games require the player to monitor the stimulated environment and respond quickly to the presence of targets among distractors.
• Distractors interference persists up to extreme high perceptual load.
• this suggests that brain structure is changed through plasticity and increases an individual’s perceptual capacity.