Lecture 8 Flashcards
what is the experiment for Attentional blink
Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) presentation
¤ Continuous & rapid presentation of stimuli in the same location on a screen
¤ Stimuli includes targets and distractors
what is Attentional blink
If two targets are presented within a short time interval (500 ms), there is a reduced ability to identify the second target
Attention takes up resources that need to be replenished ¤ This means attention is limited by processing time
Frontal lobe regions help do what
¤ focus and hold information in our minds
is attention processing divided int he brain
yes
what are the two divisions of attentional processing
¤ Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC
¤ Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
what is ¤ Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) good for
¤ Focusing attention
¤ Response selection
what is Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)
Selecting task relevant information
what is Inattentional blindness a consequence of
selective attention
what is Inattentional blindness
Failure to attend to new events in our environment that we ‘should’ see
¤ “Looking without seeing”
is Inattentional blindness the same as change blindeness
Similar but not exactly change blindness
¤ Change in a stimulus that was there before versus missing a new stimuli
what are the Four characteristics of inattentional blindness
¤ People fail to notice an event/object ¤ The object/event is fully-visible
¤ It can been seen
¤ The inability to notice the object/event is because of attention and not because of visual features
of the input
¤ The object/event is unexpected
¤ The effect is not due to being distracted or not engaging attention
explain An inattentional blindness task
¤ Two main features of this task
¤ Participants aren’t expecting a target but are looking
in the general area
¤ Participants are using attention resources for some task
Over a series of experimental trials:
¤ A cross with vertical and horizontal ‘arms’ of different lengths are presented very quickly that is followed by a mask
¤ Respond with which arm of the cross was longer (vertical or horizontal)
¤ Critical Trial: A small black square in introduced
¤ Later, participants are asked if they saw this black square
do people notice the square in the attentional blindness task
People don’t notice the small square
¤ An inability to perceive unexpected information
what is Déjà vu
The impression of having experienced a situation even thought it is a new situation
¤ 2 out of every 3 people report at least one déjà vu experience
who s Déjà vu more common in
¤ More common in:
¤ People with higher education ¤ People who are more travelled ¤ With age
¤ Can be associated with some brain diseases
¤ Epilepsy
what is the The inattentional blindness explanation of deja vu
¤ The result of implicit priming + inattentional blindness
¤ A new location is ‘perceived’ under distraction (inattentional
blindness)
¤ The next time that location is encountered, it is consciously registered as new, but is familiar due to implicit priming
¤ First, you see it, aren’t aware of it but still ‘register it’
¤ Next, you see it again, now you are aware of it and it feels oddly familiar
what parts of the brain are activated with deja vu
¤ Induced déjà vu in the lab (modified a false memory task) and monitored brain activity
¤ Reports of déjà vu was NOT associated with activity in memory areas but with brain regions involved in resolving conflict
¤ Déjà vu is not a false memory by activating conflict resolution processes between information learned during a period of inattention and a period of conscious attention
what is Attentional capture
¤ This can be thought of as the opposite of inattentional blindness
¤ A new stimuli is so powerful that it is noticed, even when attention is focused elsewhere
is Attentional capture bottom up or top dowm
¤ These are bottom-up cues from the environment
¤ Automatic, reflexive
¤ Physical properties of some stimuli grab our attention
¤ The sound of a car crashing; sirens; seeing a mouse scurry in the corner of a room
what is ‘Meaningful’ attentional capture
¤ Attentional capture directs us to information important for survival
¤ This means it is determined by the importance of stimuli
¤ There are specific types of stimuli that are more important than others. ¤ These stimuli have functionally specialized processes
¤ Typically, they are biologically and/or socially important (help us survive)
explain the Attentional capture measured with a go no-go task and how it proves that Faces are a type of stimuli that automatically captures our attention
¤ A ‘signal’ (circle) is superimposed on different types of visual stimuli (faces, objects, nothing)
¤ Go Trial: When the signal is green, indicate which side the vertical line is on
¤ No-go Trial: When the signal is red, press a task neutral button
Faces slowed down the ability of participants to apply attentional processes to other tasks (react on the go/no-go task) because they capture attention
how to Measuring visual attention (via tasks and theories)
¤Posner spatial cuing task
¤Spotlight theory of attention
¤Visual search tasks
¤Feature integration theory of attention
¤Eye-tracking – overt visual attention
¤An embodied cognition approachwhat is the Spotlight theory of attention
¤ Location based view of attention
¤ Posner’s (1980) attentional spotlight theory
¤ Focus on a central view and ignore what is located ‘outside’ of the spotlight
¤ When moving our spotlight
¤ Attention will be disengaged from where it is currently focused
¤ It is physically shifted to another location and focus is centered there
explain Posner cuing task
- Fixation display: Fixate on the center a screen
- Cue Display: A ‘space’ cue directs attention to an area (left or right)
- Target Display: A target is presented and reaction time to detect it is measured
(valid trial—- Target appears in the SAME location as the cue
invalid trial– Target appears in a DIFFERENT location as the cue)
