L3 - Attention Flashcards
How to define attention? (James’ definition)
- Taking possession of the mind, in clear and vivid form of one out of several simultaneously possible objects/trains of thoughts
- Implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others
What is the textbook definition of attention?
Means by which we actively select and process a limited amount of info captured by our sense, our stored in memories, and our other cognitive processes
What are the 4 main functions of attention?
- Signal detection and vigilance
- Search
- Selective attention
- Divided attention
What is signal detection?
Attention allows us to detect a specific stimulus among the vast amount of stimuli
What is vigilance?
Ability to maintain our attention for a prolonged period of time to detect a specific stimulus
What is Search?
- Attention allows us to actively search for a specific stimulus e.g when firefighters smell smoke, they try to search for the location of the fire
What is selective attention?
Attention allows us to choose or focus on a specific stimulus and ignore others
What is divided information?
Attention allows us to direct/shift our attention resource between multiple tasks
What are the two attention control systems?
- Goal-directed attention (endogenous control/top-down) brain - behaviour
- Stimulus-driven attention (exogenous control/bottom-up)
What is goal-directed attention?
- Controlled by individual goals/intentions (voluntary control)
- Goals-directed system is influenced by expectations, knowledge and current goals of individuals
What was a study looking at goal directed attention?
- Spatial cueing task/Covert attention task
- Ppts see 3 squares, then cue (arrow)
- Valid = indicating location of target, neutral = no info, invalid = opposite location of target
- Ppts have to detect a target by pressing the space bar
- Covert attention task: attention to an object without eye movement
Results for study looking at goal-directed attention?
- Ppts eye movements monitored
- Ppts attention was voluntarily directed by the cues
- Ppts were faster for valid cues and slower for invalid cues relatove to the neutral cues
- If ppts attention was not affected by knowledge and current goals, we should not see any difference between the three conditions
What was the overt attention task?
- Recording eye movements while ppts are asked to view a picture at will, and guess the families wealth
- Judge age of people in the painting
- Guess what people were doing before being in the room
- Remember what clothes they wore, and position of objects in the room
- Estimate how long it had been since visitor was last seen by people in the painting
- If we do not have voluntary control of our attention, eye movements would be similar independent of the instructions
What was a study on goal directed attention on the brain?
- Dorsal attention network
- Meta-analysis of brain imaging studies
- Allow us to attend to stimuli directly related to our current goal
- Network contains Superior Parietal Lobe, Intraparietal sulcus, Inferior frontal junction, frontal eye field, middle temporal area, V3A
What Is stimulus-driven attention?
- Exogenous system not controlled by individual - automatic shift of attention toward stimulus e.g flashing light
- Automatically redirects attention from the current focus toward potentially important stimulus
What is the spatial cueing/covert attention task for BU?
- Ppts 3 square
- Ppts see a cue = thickness change
- 3 conditions: valid, neutral, invalid
- Ppts have to detect a target by pressing space bar
- Ppts faster for valid cues and slower for invalid cues relative to neutral cues
- If ppts attention was not automatically redirected we should not see any difference between the conditions
What brain system is used in BU?
- Ventral attention system
- Meta-analysis allowing us to attend to unexpected threatening stimuli
- The ventral attention network consists of the inferior frontal junction, inferior frontal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, insula and temporo-parietal junction
What is a network model?
- Review of neuroimaging studies on attention and found 3 functions of attention
- Alerting, Orienting and Executive attention
Define Alerting
- System help us achieve and maintain a state of high sensitivity to incoming stimuli e.g traffic light
- Problems associated with alerting: normal aging and attention deficit disorder
Define orienting?
- Orienting is defined as the system that improves the selection of info from sensory input e.g pedestrian sign
- Problems associated with orienting = autism
Define executive attention?
- System helps us to monitor and resolve conflict among thoughts, feelings and responses
- Problems associated with EA - Alzheimer’s, BPD, Schizophrenia
What was a study looking at the network model? (Attention in relationships)
- Does attention play an important role in relationships
- Examined attention deficits in adults, with or without a history of previous divorce, but who currently live with a partner
- 190 Canadian adults: 32 divorced, 13 divorced and remarried, 19 divorced and cohabiting
- EA deficit for divorced couples cohabiting (resolve conflicts)
- Attention might be important predictor in successful relationships
What is the structure and neurotransmitters for each function?
- Alerting = Locus coeruleus, right frontal and parietal cortex = Norepinephrine (maintenance of alertness)
- Orienting = Superior Parietal, Temporal parietal junction, frontal eye fields, superior colliculus = Acetylcholine
- EA = Anterior cingulate, lateral ventral, prefrontal, basal ganglia = dopamine (conflict resolution)
Factors that influence attention:
- Anxiety: attention can be affected by level of anxiety (trait and state-based)
- Arousal: level of arousal/excitement affects ability to pay attention e.g tired
- Task difficulty: level of difficulty/novelty of the task affect the attention resource needed (easier task = less attention)
- Skills: increase and practise and skills reduced the level of attention needed to perform a task
