Lecture 7: Attention

Question 1

Stroop Task

Answer 1

Test using text that is a different color than what the test is, meant to test selective attention

Question 2

Selective (focused) Attention

Answer 2

Paying attention to a single channel of information and ignoring everything else

Question 3

Divided Attention

Answer 3

Dividing attention among multiple channels of information, humans are bad at dividing attention

Question 4

Dichotic Listening

Answer 4

Hearing one message in one ear and a different message in another

Question 5

Unattended Message Characteristics

Answer 5

Little memory for message, not noticed if it is in another language, and not aware of meaning. There is however an unconscious absorption of the information, ex. Galvanic skin response

Question 6

Early Filtering

Answer 6

We filter out the unattended message after detection but before recognition

Question 7

Late Filtering

Answer 7

We filter out the unattended message after recognition

Question 8

Attenuation

Answer 8

The unattended message is not completely filtered out after detections, and some information still makes it recognition

Question 9

Covert Shifts

Answer 9

Spatial attention directors towards a stimulus without eye movement

Question 9

Overt Shift

Answer 9

Shift of attention via eye movement

Question 10

Spotlight Model

Answer 10

Visual attention is shifted like a spotlight, allows for movement of covert attention without eye movements following this spotlight

Question 11

Posner’s Spatial Cueing Task:

Answer 11

○ Fixate on center, arrow cue shifts covert attention to the side it is pointing to
○ Faster to respond if arrow points where the stimulus appears; slower if points opposite
○ Spotlight model of attention can explain this - when the stimulus appears to the opposite side of the cue, have to shift the spotlight to the other side

Question 12

Feature Integration Theory:

Answer 12

Attention is what allows us to integrate different features into object representations

Question 13

Feature Search

Answer 13

Automatic and fast - pop-out effect, performance in unaffected by the number of distractors, suggests parallel processing of features

Question 14

Conjunction Search

Answer 14

Controlled, slow and effortful - required attentional glue, RT scaled with number of distractors, suggests feature conjunctions are processed serially, go though each item one by one

Question 15

Visuospatial Neglect

Answer 15

Typically from damage to the right parietal love, it causes global and local neglect contralateral side

Question 16

Disengage Deficit

Answer 16

Patients no longer able to disengage attention from ipsilateral side of damage, if right side is damaged, no longer able to disengage from the right side of space