Information Processing Flashcards
What is information processing?
When signals or information in the environment are taken in by humans and processed for the purposes of perception, decision-making, and action
What are the two common approaches to conceptualize information processing?
Ecological approach and cognitive approach
Describe the ecological approach to information processing
- How motor systems interact with the environment to perform goal-oriented behavior
- Perception of available affordances requires experience specific to the task and environment
What is meant by “affordances” in the ecological approach?
The possible actions available to an individual based on their environment
Describe the cognitive approach to information processing
- The traditional black box model (stimulus > human > response)
- What occurs in the human (brain) to turn sensory input into motor output cannot be directly observed
What are the three stages of information processing?
Stimulus identification stage
Response selection stage
Response programming stage
The stimulus identification stage, response selection stage, and response programming stage can be added together to make up …..
Reaction time
What occurs during the stimulus identification stage?
Neural encoding of sensory information from visual, auditory, vestibular, and touch/proprioceptive systems
What are the two substages of the stimulus identification stage?
Stimulus detection: environmental signal stimulates neurological impulses and memory is contacted to associate current signal with past experiences
Pattern recognition: decipher patterns from both static (recognizing a persons face) and dynamic (identify general speed of ball coming towards you) conditions
What occurs in the response selection stage?
Person determines which action to take in response to the stimulus
What occurs in the response programming stage?
Translation of response selection into action which requires retrieval of a motor program, preparation, and initiation
What do you call the interval between stimulus presentation and the initiation of a response?
Reaction Time
True or False
A reaction time experiment includes manipulating a single variable while holding other conditions constant to measure changes in reaction time
True
How can we vary experiments to test reaction time?
Simple reaction time: includes one stimulus and one response option
Go no go: includes two stimuli and one response option
Choice reaction time: includes 2 stimuli and two response options
How do you determine the time spent in the stimulus identification stage
(go-no-go experiment time) minus (simple reaction time experiment time)
How do you determine the time spent in response selection stage?
(choice reaction time experiment time) minus (go-no-go experiment time)
How will very clear or very intense signals impact reaction time?
Reaction time will decrease (quicker)
How does modality of stimulus influence reaction time?
- We are slower to respond to visual stimuli than auditory or tactile
- Reaction times are quicker when a stimulus is presented in more than one modality (go when the light turns green and the horn blows)
What variables influence response selection?
- Amount of response choices (Hick’s Law)
- Practice/experience
- Stimulus response compatibility (John is supposed to put his arms up when he hears the command “down”)
- Predictability (anticipation causes a response to be selected before stimulus is received)
What is the main principle of Hick’s Law?
The more choices available, the longer it will take to select a response to a stimuli (= increased reaction time)
What variables influence response programming?
- Complexity of response selected (more complex = slower RT)
- Anticipation
- Automaticity (habitual)
- Arousal (interest/attention)
What is receptor anticipation?
Detection of upcoming event based on sensory information
What is effector anticipation?
Estimation of the amount of time it will take to perform movement (selected response)
What is perceptual anticipation?
Can be predicted from experience but cannot be directly perceived (ex. military drill)
What is spatial anticipation?
Anticipation of the type of stimulus and the required response, this allows some response programming before the stimulus arrives which will decrease reaction time (quicker)
What is temporal anticipation?
Anticipation of when the stimulus will arrive which can largely decrease reaction time (quicker) and is common when stimulus is constant and has a short fore period (short amount of time between stimuli)
What are the costs and benefits to anticipating a stimulus?
Costs: increased reaction time and increased errors (if anticipated incorrectly)
Benefits: decreased reaction time (if anticipated correctly)
What is serial processing?
A single channel of processing, one process must be completed before the next can begin
What is parallel processing?
Multiple channels of processing, some or all processes can occur at the same time
What is controlled processing?
Processing that requires selective attention, slow and serial in nature, and usually occurs during a skill that is not well learned
What is automatic processing?
Processing that needs limited attention, quicker and parallel in nature, and usually occurs during a well-learned skill
What can happen if arousal is too high?
Perception narrows due to increased focus on stimuli relevant to the task and decreased focus on stimuli outside of the task
What can happen if arousal is too low?
May not be attentive enough to identify relevant stimuli and trigger information processing
What does the inverted U principle apply to?
Performance based on level of arousal
What three variables determine the optimal level of arousal?
Task: low arousal may be more suitable for fine motor tasks while high arousal may be more suitable for gross motor tasks (ex. writing a letter vs kicking a ball)
Environment: high arousal may be more optimal for busier environments
Individual: beginners may need wider focus, while experts benefit from a narrowed focus
What can occur in cases of high arousal (hypervigilance/panic)?
Severe stress conditions can disrupt actions and cause “freezing”
What is feed forward control?
Described as anticipatory or proactive, use of previous experience to predict the consequences of received sensory information
What is feedback control?
Described as compensatory or reactive, sensory information is compared to the desired state (reference signal), the difference between the two states (desired state vs actual state = error signal) is used to updated the output
What is a central pattern generator?
- Complex neural circuitry located in the spinal cord
- Capable of producing oscillating movement
- Can be triggered to produce stepping behavior without control from higher centers
