Models of attention - A1 Flashcards
What is attention in vague terms? (2)
- information is selected for processing
- some information is suppressed or not processed
What is selective attention?
the ability to focus on that which is important to the task at hand while ignoring or suppressing task-irrelevant information
What is the difference between structure and capacity models?
structure = how the brain is wired to work involving filters
capacity = a limited amount of attention is available
What is Broadbent’s filter model? What type of model is it?
The information not attended to is filtered out before any processing
It is an early selection, structural model
What did Cherry (1953) find in the dichotic listening task?
People reported the meaning of the speech that was attended and only the basic physical characteristics of the unattended speech
Which model of attention is Cherry’s (1953) dichotic listening task supposed to support?
Broadbent’s filter model
What is concluded from the dichotic listening task by Cherry?
selection is early, prior to processing
What are 2 predictions from Broadbent’s filter model?
- all or nothing processing (attention can only focus on one thing at a time)
- dual tasking as actually switching between 2 tasks, which takes time and is inefficient
What was found in the study where names were played in the unattended channel? (2)
- 30% of people noticed their name
- but they failed to follow the instructions that came after their name so it was the only thing from that channel that they attended to
What was found in the study where words were pre-associated to electric shocks and played in the unattended channel? (2)
- there was a physiological response to them
- there was also this response to synonyms too
What evidence did Treisman (1960) find for people paying attention to the unattended channel?
people will follow a coherent message across to this channel and switch where they are listening to
What does Treisman’s modified model suggest?
the unattended information is not filtered out (like Broadbent’s model) but it is attenuated (toned down)
some information is ‘louder’ than others so it gets through (like your name)
What type of model is Treisman’s modified model? (2)
early selection, structural
What do late selection models of attention suggest? (2)
- all information is processed to the highest level
- selection occurs at the level of response/awareness (so the filter is just before you become aware of the information)
What are 2 pieces of evidence that support late selection models?
- participants use the unattended channel to resolve ambiguous sentences (e.g. put out has 2 meanings)
- stroop tasks involve the full processing of both the colour and the word before you pick the right one
What are 2 reasons why the unattended information may be remembered?
- the filter is leaky
- the filter is slipping (attention focuses on information it shouldn’t)
According to Kahneman (1972), what is processing capacity dependent on? (2)
- the difficulty of the task
- the individual expertise on the task
According to Kahneman (1972), what is task performance dependent on?
the allocation of capacity to the task
What are capacity models?
the cognitive system has a limited amount of processing capacity and paying attention is the equivalent of investing energy
What type of model is Kahneman’s (1972) model?
capacity
According to Kahneman (1972), what is task allocation dependent on? (3)
- enduring dispositions (habits and preferences)
- momentary intentions (needs right now)
- evaluation of demands on capacity
How does arousal levels affect attentional capacity?
too much = reduced focus, more irrelevant details noticed
too little = no real motivation
need a good balance to have the optimal capacity
How do capacity models suggest that dual tasking works?
- it is doing 2 things at once
- there is a drop in performance on both tasks because the attentional capacity is split between them
What is it called when dual tasking makes each task worse?
dual task decrement
What are 2 pieces of evidence to support the existence of true dual tasking in capacity models?
- people improve over 6 weeks at reading something aloud and writing something at the same time
- there is dual task decrement with all combos of audio/visual stimuli
What interesting thing did Treisman and Davies (1973) find when looking at dual task decrement with audio and visual stimuli?
the decrement was worse when the 2 tasks involved the same modality - modality specific resources
What is the general gist of the perceptual load theory (Lavie)?
the system is limited (as in early selection) but will process all information until it runs out of capacity
What does the perceptual load theory suggest about the type of selection?
you can have early and late selection within your system, depending on the demands of the attended stimuli
What is inattentional blindness?
not noticing task irrelevant elements in the visual scene
What did Lavie find when looking into compatibility effects (of distractors) with high and low perceptual loads?
- high load = lower compatibility effects
- low load = higher compatibility effects
Why are compatibility effects different for high and low perceptual loads?
- low load = late filtering so you have a broader focus of attention, noticing the distractors
- high load = early filtering so distractors aren’t processed
What study results support inattentional blindness?
participants don’t notice a box in the corner of the screen when completing rounds of another task in the centre of the screen
What is the overall effect of increased perceptual load? (2)
- reduced compatibility effect
- increased inattentional blindness
What was found in the study where the load on working memory (cognitive control process) was altered?
high WM load increases the impact of incongruency in the picture naming part
How are high working memory and high perceptual loads different?
- high WM (active system) = increased interference
- high PL (passive system) = reduced interference
