Lecture 3- Visual selective attention

Question 1

what is Space-based attention and object based attentin?

Answer 1

Space-based attention: Selection from regions of space

Object-based attention: Selection of objects.

Question 2

what is attention

Answer 2

• acts as a means of focusing limited mental resources on the info and cognitive processes that are most salient at a given moment

Question 3

what is selective attention for vision

Answer 3

attention is limited in capacity
vision; we can typically see more than one thing in our visual world at once- how do we select what is most important and disregard the rest

• posner 1980= spotlight or torch beam model
• necessary to process info of interest

Question 4

why do we need to select visual attention

Answer 4

alot of info- need to reduce cognitive overload

Question 5

what is being argued about the 2 schools of thought about how we select visual attention

Answer 5

2 schools of thought -

selects from space based view: visual attention directed towards and selects based on regions of space within our visual fields

selects from object based view - visual attention directed towards objects rather than a potentially empty region of space

argued about which view provides the best characterisation

Question 6

describe the space based view and analogies proposed that go with it

Answer 6

Visual attention is directed to and selects on the basis of regions of space in a visual scene

eg spotlight (posner 1980)
zoom lens (erikson and st james 1986)
multiple spotlights (awh and pashler 2000)

all share idea that objects that fall withi a beam of attention are subject to further processing with priority (for things we are interested in)

Question 7

describe object based view - including Duncan 1984s theory

Answer 7

wew select attention form objects themselves rather than empty regions of space.
Duncan said objects are processed in according to gestalt laws - then subject to further processing.

Question 8

What is covert and overt attention- space based view

Answer 8

overt- looking at what attending to

covert- mental shift, shifts interdependently of eyes, not necessarily looking at what attending to

Question 9

in posner 1980’s spatial cueing paradigm- what type of attention is used

Answer 9

covert attention - as draws attention away from stimulus of interest

Question 10

who created / investigated the spatial cueing paradigm

Answer 10

Posner 1980

Question 11

what was the method in posners spatial cueing paradigm

Answer 11

pps had to fixate on a cross in the middle of the screen
shown an arrow (directional cue - left/right/up/down)
and then a target (eg a square)
had to press a button when saw the target

3 types of trials

valid trial (80%) - arrow pointed towards target 
invalid (20%)- pointing away from target 
neutral- double headed arrow with no directional cue

Question 12

What were the 3 trial conditions in posners spatial cueing paradigm

Answer 12

3 types of trials

valid trial (80%) - arrow pointed towards target 
invalid (20%)- pointing away from target 
neutral- double headed arrow with no directional cue

Question 13

what is the DV in in posners spatial cueing paradigm

Answer 13

reaction times

Question 14

what were the results of in posners spatial cueing paradigm

Answer 14

pps reacted quicker when the arrow was pointing towards the target (valid)

and slower on invalid and neutral trials

Question 15

what is the three part process which was attributed form the trials in in posners spatial cueing paradigm

Answer 15

The slowing of responses on invalid trials was attributed to a three part process
1) disengaging attention
2) moving attention to the true location
3) engaging attention at the new location
iNTERPRETATION :
attention can be likened to a spotlight that enhances the efficiency of detection of events within a beam

Question 16

how do results from posners spatial cueing paradigm relate to a spotlight

Answer 16

attention can be likened to a spotlight that enhances the efficiency of detection of events within a beam

Question 17

who created the space based selection zoom lens model ?

Answer 17

erikson and st James 1986

Question 18

what is argued in the zoom lens model ?

Answer 18

argue that a window of attention can be increaseed/ decrease with task demand

Example:
when driving a car attend to as much as possible- but when someone walks out in front of your car - your attention focusses and (zooms) into that one event

Question 19

what was laberge 1983 trying to investigate?

Answer 19

Spotlight vs zoom lens modelling

Question 20

describe the method of laberge 1983 test on spotlight vs zoom lens modelling -

Answer 20

pps shown a series of 5 letter words
occasionally a probe requiring rapid response presented instead of or after a word
probe could appear in any location of the 5 letters
reaction times measured
2 conditions:
focussed condition: pps asked to categorise the middle letter of the word- (to focus on a narrow space)
unfocussed condition: pps asked to categorise the whole word (wide spread attention)

Question 21

what were the 2 conditions in laberge 1983 test on spotlight vs zoom lens modelling -

Answer 21

2 conditions:
focussed condition: pps asked to categorise the middle letter of the word- (to focus on a narrow space)
unfocussed condition: pps asked to categorise the whole word (wide spread attention)

Question 22

what were the findings of laberge 1983 test on spotlight vs zoom lens modelling -

Answer 22

in focused conditions- detecting probe was fastest when happened in central letter - which pps were told to focus on

in unfocussed - detecting probe was equal for all 5 letter locations

shows that attentional spotlight does appear to zoom in and out

Question 23

who proposed the multiple spotlights model in spatial modelling

Answer 23

Awh and Pashler 2000

Question 24

describe the multiple spotlights model in spatial modelling in relation to conserving cognitive resources

Answer 24

allows us to conserve cognitive resources by avoiding attending to irrelevant regions of visual space that fall between relevant areas
helps us in terms of limited attention resources

Question 25

Describe Awh and Pashler 2000 multiple spotlights model study

Answer 25

2 dots/ probes (spatial cues) were presented to pps
this was followed by a 5x5 grid of 23 letters and 2 numbers
task was to find the 2 numbers

80%of trials predicted the locations of numbers- i.e in the same place as the numbers on the grid

20% trials didnt predict the location (invalid)

reaction time measured

Question 26

what were the finding of Awh and Pashler 2000 multiple spotlights model study

Answer 26

supported multiple spotlights model
- no difference in detection speed at digits a or b in invalid task (A between the probes- B 2 below )
therefore attention can select the cued locations at the same time and not the space between it

If zoomed lens was true then:
attention should cover both cued locations- also taking in number at location a - therefore easier to detect a than b (BUT THIS WAS NOT THE CASE)

Question 27

describe the typical manipulation looking at object VS space based manipulation

Answer 27

if object based true- can select two objects which are overlapping- but find it hard to attend to the 2 at the same time in the same location

If space based is true- then fall under the beam of spotlight and can process the two simultaneously

Question 28

describe the method in O’craven , downing and Kanwisher (1999) study

Answer 28

Fmri study

used 2 stimuli - face and a house overlapping at the same location- with one object moving slightly

had to attend to direction of motion or one stimuli or to position of stationary target stimuli

Question 29

what werre the object and space based predictions for O’craven , downing and Kanwisher (1999) study

Answer 29

if attention is space based : should select both stimuli (both at same location)

if object based : one or the other stimuli shold be selected

Question 30

What are the findings of O’craven , downing and Kanwisher (199) study

Answer 30

• found selective activation - object based
• when the face moved, it was selected resulting in more activation in the fusiform face brain area
  when the house moved, there was more activity in the parahipocampal place brain area
  Compelling evidence