Lecture 12- Attention schemas

Question 1

What is simulation semantics?

Answer 1

Activating the same parts of the brain that the meaning is about

Question 2

What are three pieces of evidence for simulation semantics?

Answer 2

1. Neuro-imaging indicates overlap
2. Visual imagery experiments (words/ sentences activate the visual cortex)
3. Sentence-Action Compatibility (Actions of the arm can either inhibit or aid with reading sentences)

Question 3

What are three things that are hard to explain using simulation semantics?

Answer 3

1. Variation (no action is the same across time)
2. Lack of experience yet still has meaning
3. Abstract language (if not about physical things how would stimulating physical things work)

Question 4

What is a solution to the problem of variation in regards to simulation semantics?

Answer 4

Schemas which are simplified models of topics (core elements are kept but details are thrown away e.g. container). As generalised allows for variation.

Question 5

What do schema’s allow for?

Answer 5

Allows us to predict behaviours

Question 6

What flaw in simulation semantics can schema’s also potentially explain?

Answer 6

Lack of experience but still having meaning. We can build a model/schema that lets us understand a general concept even if we have never experienced it.

Question 7

How does a physical schema allow us to then understand something abstract?

Answer 7

Can apply the schema we already have to a more abstract idea.

Question 8

What is the idea of attention?

Answer 8

The world is made up of many things/ lots of stimulation. Attention is the idea of selecting one thing for greater processing i.e devote more neural and mental energy to this thing.

Question 9

How does attention work at the neural level?

Answer 9

• Neural signals can either be excitatory or inhibitory
• Attention boosts neural signals related to the thing you are attending to more and inhibits the signals related to other things

Question 10

How does attention work with regards to information transfer?

Answer 10

Increases the channel for information transfer sending more information to the ‘decision maker’ of the brain (part trying to use the information related to what you are attending to)

Question 11

How does attention work via top-down processing?

Answer 11

Signals are sent down to change the perception of the world

Question 12

What types of things can we attend to?

Answer 12

Vision, sounds, taste even thoughts (doesn’t have to outside of yourself)

Question 13

Can attention shift? What does this mean?

Answer 13

Yes can make a decision to focus on different things. Means we have some control over what we decide to pay attention to.

Question 14

How is behaviour altered by attention?

Answer 14

What we decide to pay attention to influences our behaviour.

Question 15

What is in an attention schema?

Answer 15

1. An agent in place 1
2. Attends to thing in place 2
3. An attended thing will have a causal effect on agent
4. Agent attends for some purpose

Question 16

What are the different possibilities with regards to social attention?

Answer 16

• Two people focused on different things
• Both people focused on the same thing by chance/ because it is somehow inherently interesting
• One person is focused on the other person
• Because focus is on the other person can read cues and know what that person is attending to. Therefore the person also attends to that stimulation while monitoring other persons attention
• Joint attention. Where both people have attention on the same thing not by chance but because they are monitoring each others attention.

Question 17

What makes joint attention possible?

Answer 17

The fact that we as humans are good at reading cues from other people. Can tell what people are looking at based on things like their gaze. In that way we have an attention schema/ model of what the other person is attending to.

Question 18

What is an attention schema also called?

Answer 18

Awareness

Question 19

What does having an attention schema of the other person allow you to do?

Answer 19

Can predict the other person’s behaviour

Question 20

What is the strange loop with regards to attention schemas?

Answer 20

• Individual consciousness is taking your model of others and applying it to yourself.
• This then allows you to report on what you yourself are attending to and predict your own behaviour

Question 21

Are infants capable of joint attention?

Answer 21

No, may go one way if an adult is invovled but the infant themselves cannot monitor the behaviour of the adult. In other words you could not have a situation where you were both attending to the same info because you were moniting each other

Question 22

Can chimpanzees have joint attention?

Answer 22

No

Question 23

When does the ability to monitor the other person come in for humans? I.e when can an adult and child have joint attention?

Answer 23

About 2-3 years

Question 24

How does our ability to have joint attention relate to conversations and how does this make humans unique?

Answer 24

• Conversation= joint activity with joint projects. To have a joint activity must be able to have joint attention. Therefore, language is not possible without robust joint attention.
• Structure of conversation= hello signals the start of joint activity. Goodbye= end of joint activity.

Language and conversation is not possible without being able to hold joint attention. Therefore might explain somewhat why people are different.

Question 25

How is what is contained in an attention schema and what is in a situation model related?

Answer 25

Situation model:

1. Protagonists= agent
2. Objects= The object/thing attention is on
3. Places= place 1 and place 2 in attention schema
4. Causation= An attended thing will have a causal effect on agent
5. Intention= Agent attends for some purpose
6. (Time)= If you are able to shift your attention this implies time