Perception & Attention

Question 1

what is sensation?

Answer 1

the stimulus detection process by which our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nervous impulses.

Question 2

what is perception?

Answer 2

active process of organising the stimulus output and giving it meaning ; the interpretation of the sensation (stimulus output).

Question 3

what are the two processes of perception?

Answer 3

top-down and bottom-up processing

Question 4

what is involved in top-down processing?

Answer 4

Processing information in context of existing knowledge
e.g. neocortex activation

• our knowledge, expectations and thoughts act on the incoming information and influence our final perception

Question 5

what is involved in bottom-up processing?

Answer 5

Individual elements are combined to make a unified perception (base senses).
e.g. visual cortex activation

• senses–> nerve impulses—> higher cortical areas

Question 6

what are the factors affecting perception?

Answer 6

	Attention.
	Experience 
	Current-drive/arousal state 
	Emotions – anxiety increases threat perception.
	Individual values/morality.
	Environment 
	Cultural background –

Question 7

what is figure-ground relations?

Answer 7

human tendency to organise stimuli into foreground and background

Question 8

what are the Gestalt Laws?

Answer 8

o Continuity
– eye is compelled to follow cues.
o Similarity
– similar things are perceived as being grouped.
o Proximity
– objects near each other are grouped together.
o Closure
– things are grouped if they complete some entity.

Question 9

how is the visual cortex organised?

Answer 9

V1-8

the more complex the processing, the further from V1

Question 10

what is visual agnosia?

Answer 10

• basic vision spared, striate cortex mostly intact
• see and respond to visual stimuli but cannot recognise objects unless they feel them
• information from other senses required to recognise
• associated with bilateral lesions to occipital, occipital-temporal or occipital-parietal lobes

Question 11

what are the 2 types of visual agnosia?

Answer 11

Apperceptive agnosia

Associative agnosia

Question 12

what areas are damaged in apperceptive agnosia?

Answer 12

V1, V2 and V3 usually

Question 13

what areas are damaged in associative agnosia?

Answer 13

V3+

Question 14

what happens in apperceptive agnosia?

Answer 14

• Failure to integrate elements of stimuli.
• Can indicate discrete parts of a word but cannot organise that into a whole word.

E.G. Cannot draw a pencil.

Question 15

what happens in associative agnosia?

Answer 15

o Failure of retrieval of semantic (logic) information.
o Shape, colour and texture can be perceived.
o Typically, sensory-specific – e.g. if the object is touched then recognised.

E.G. Doesn’t recognise a pencil without touching it.

Question 16

what is attention?

Answer 16

the process of focusing conscious awareness to provide increased sensitivity to a limited area of experience which requires more intensive processing.

Question 17

how are the two components of attention?

Answer 17

FOCUS on the aspect FILTERING OUT external useless information

Question 18

what are the 2 forms of attention?

Answer 18

focussed: ability to respond directly to specific visual, auditory or tactile stimuli
divided: highest level of attention; ability to respond simultaneously to multiple stimuli , tasks, demands

Question 19

what are the stimuli affecting attention?

Answer 19

o	Intensity 
o	Novelty (something new as fuck) 
o	Movement.
o	Contrast. 
o	Repetition.

Question 20

what are the personal factors affecting attention?

Answer 20

o	Motives – e.g. to eat healthily.
o	Interests – e.g. interest in learning psychology. 
o	Threats.
o	Mood.
o	Arousal.

Question 21

what does the Cocktail Party Effect describe?

Answer 21

We can focus our attention on one person’s voice despite all the other conversations in the room.
When someone says our name across the room though, you instantly recognise it even though you were not attending to this person.

Question 22

what are the cognitive process involved in attention?

Answer 22

• external stimuli
• sensory buffers: register information for a few seconds to select what information to focus on
• limited capacity for short term memory
• long term memory
• responses
• unconscious perception of information we don’t attend to e.g. cocktail party effect

Question 23

when is multi-tasking easiest?

Answer 23

when the skill/task is automatic and the tasks are not too similar

Question 24

when do incorrect actions occur when multi-tasking?

Answer 24

o Full attention is not given to the task

o High level of stress or anxiety is present

Question 25

why do medical mistakes occur?

Answer 25

the more automatic a task, the less conscious control available
errors in planning
simple mistakes in tasks

Question 26

what is Medical Student Syndrome?

Answer 26

Psychological condition where medical trainees experience symptoms of the diseases that they are studying.

some studies don’t prove that medical students have greater chance of suffering from health anxiety than non-medical students

Question 27

what are the causes of MSS?

Answer 27

high workload
stress
high anxiety
exposure to medical knowledge

Question 28

why can medical students become preoccupied with a condition?

Answer 28

knowledge learnt affects symptom perception –> selective attention to physical symptoms and misinterpretation–> preoccupation with condition.

Question 29

how does attention affect perception of bodily symptoms?

Answer 29

Focus of attention contributes to the perception of our own bodily symptoms
Distraction can play a big part in not perceiving own bodily symptoms.

Question 30

how does being told pain information affecting pain perception?

Answer 30

those told it will be painful will find the stimulus more painful while those told it will be pleasant will find it pleasant to some extent

Question 31

what is the difference between acute and chronic pain?

Answer 31

Acute pain warns us of damage whilst chronic pain can mean we have healed but pain pathways are sensitised.

Question 32

what are the factors that make up chronic pain?

Answer 32

tissue damage
pain sensation
thoughts
emotions
suffering 
pain behaviour (positive reinforcement)

Question 33

what does the Gate Theory of Pain describe?

Answer 33

Pain signals compete to get through “gates”

The gate can be opened or closed by physical and psychological factors

Question 34

what is mindfulness?

Answer 34

focus attention on something else other than the pain such as breathing and this can reduce chronic pain.

Question 35

what does the Fear-Avoidance Model of Pain describe?

Answer 35

Pain breeds avoidance which perpetuates stress, low mood and anxiety.
This is a negative reinforcement behaviour with positive effects while healing but negative after healing