Lecture 4: Attention Flashcards
What is attention?
The ability to focus on specific stimuli or locations in our environment
What is selective attention?
Attending to one thing while ignoring others
Divided attention
Paying attention to more than one thing at a time
What happens during selective attention? (2)
- we do not attend to a large fraction of the information in the environment
- we filter out a lot of information and promote other information for further processing
What is dichotic listening?
One message is presented to the left ear and another to the right ear
What are the models of selective attention? (3)
Early, intermediate and late selection models
Example of an early selection model
Broadbent’s filter model
Example of an intermediate selection model
Treisman’s attenuation model
Example of a late selection model
MacKay 1973
What does an early selection model do?
Filters message before incoming information is analysed for meaning
What are the four steps of Broadbent’s Filter Model?
- Sensory memory
- Filter
- Detector
- Short-term memory
What role does sensory memory have in Broadbent’s Filter Model? (2)
- Holds all incoming information for a fraction of a second
- Transfers all information to the next stage
What role does the filter have in Broadbent’s Filter Model? (2)
- Identifies attended message based on physical characteristics
- Only attended message is passed on to the next stage
What role does the detector have in Broadbent’s Filter Model?
Processes all information to determine higher-level characteristics of the message
What role does short-term memory have in Broadbent’s Filter Model? (2)
- Receives output of detector
- Holds information for 10-15 seconds and may transfer it to long-term memory
