Lecture 5b, Attention I

Question 1

Attention

Answer 1

attention is cognitive Resource for mental processes, related to how we Select information to process
- we use the “pie” analogy to consider how much resources a task takes (the big pie on the right) and then how much “attention” is left over to devote to other tasks (the piece missing)
- how much does the primary task take up and how much do we have left for the secondary task

Question 2

Attentional Problem

Answer 2

need to shift between…
- different events in the environment
- monitoring and correcting actions
- planning future actions (programming part is going to have attention resources)
- doing many other actions/processes that compete for limited attentional resources
(eg. thinking about the past, listening to music, talking…)

Question 3

3 features of attention relevant to performing actions

Answer 3

1. limited & selective: limited capacity causes selective attention (measured with secondary tasks)
2. intentional or incidental
   - intentional: voluntary/conscious/controlled (choose where to direction attention - incidental:
   involuntary/nonconscious/automatic (attention can be grabbed)
   - novice to expert -> controlled to automatic (my note)
3. directionally focused:
   - internal (body-focused)
   - external (environment/effects’ focused)

Question 4

What is attention inferred from? Capacity or Structural Interference

Answer 4

capacity interference

Question 5

Structural Interference

Answer 5

• competition for physical or neurological structures
• prevents or disrupts primary task because cannot physically do 2 things
  examples: look at 2 different places at same time, or use same limbs for different tasks
• structural interference is the difficulty of doing two things together

Question 6

Capacity Interference

Answer 6

• limitation in central “attentional” capacity
• divides attention/concentration from primary task (resource demanding)
• when we talk about attention we are really talking about capacity interference

Question 7

Capacity or Structural: listening to music, talking on cell phone and talking to passenger

Answer 7

capacity

Question 8

Capacity or Structural: manually changing the radio, holding on & talking on cell phone and turning to talk to passenger

Answer 8

structural

Question 9

RT to the probe

Answer 9

measure of the attention demanded by the primary task

Question 10

Intentional or Incidental

Answer 10

• your attention can be grabbed unintentionally or you can choose where/what to attend
• related to how skilled you are (less need to intentionally monitor actions as become more skilled)

Question 11

Intentional

Answer 11

consciously choose to attend to information & inhibit attention to others
◦ also called “top-down
processing”
eg. tuning out a TV program while intentionally studying for your 211 midterm exam

Question 12

Incidental

Answer 12

involuntarily shift attention in response to be unexpected external stimulus
◦ also called “bottom-up
processing”
eg. suddenly attended to a fire alarm that goes off while studying for 211 midterm exam

Question 13

Controlled Processing

Answer 13

• slow
• attention demanding
• serially organized (deal with one bit first and then the next)
• intentional/volitional/conscious processing

Question 14

Automatic Processing

Answer 14

• fast
• not attention demanding
• organized in parallel
• unintentional/ involuntary/ nonconscious processing

Question 15

Skilled performers demonstrate automatic processing (& seeming automaticity) in their actions

Answer 15

• developing automaticity in one (or both) tasks allows both to be performed without disruption
• automaticity is developed through lots of practice (related to procedural memory)

Question 16

Direction: Internal

Answer 16

internal = directed toward performer’s own body movements
* proximal body focus
* associated with choking under pressure
* associated with focus of novices

Question 17

Direction: External

Answer 17

external = directed toward effects movements have on environment
* more distal focus
* different from distraction
* associated with focus of experts

Question 18

Choking under pressure

Answer 18

thought to be in part a direction of attention issue
- occurs when performers change their normal routine or fail to adapt to a changing situation, resulting in failed performance
- attention changes from external (what to do) to internal (how to do it)