Processing Information

Question 1

What are the stages of information processing?

Answer 1

• input
• stimulus identification
• response selection
• movement programming
• output

Question 2

What are Donder’s 3 task types according to the “stages of processing”?

Answer 2

A-type reaction
C-type reaction
B-type reaction

Question 3

What are the requirements of A-type reaction?

Answer 3

• stimulus detection

Question 4

What are the requirements of C-type reaction?

Answer 4

• stimulus detection

- stimulus identification

Question 5

What are the requirements of B-type reaction?

Answer 5

• stimulus detection
• stimulus identification
• response selection

Question 6

A-type reaction tests… Give an example.

Answer 6

• simple reaction time

- tennis ball drop one ball

Question 7

C-type reaction tests… Give an example.

Answer 7

• go/no-go reaction

- ?

Question 8

B-type reaction tests… Give an example.

Answer 8

• choice reaction time

- ?

Question 9

What is reaction time?

Answer 9

RT interval is a measure of the accumulated durations of the three stages of processing.

Question 10

What are the factors that influence decision making?

Answer 10

• number of stimulus-response alternatives (Hick’s Law)
• Stimulus-response compatibility
• population stereotypes
• amount of practice
• anticipation

Question 11

What is Hick’s law?

Answer 11

the mathematical descriptor showing a linear relationship between choice reaction time and the logarithm of the number of stimulus-response alternatives

Question 12

Define stimulus-response compatibility. Give an example.

Answer 12

• the extent to which the stimulus and the response it evokes are connected in a “natural” way
• turning the handlebars of a bike to the right to move in that direction

Question 13

What are population stereotypes?

Answer 13

habitual stimulus-response relationships that dominate behaviour due to cultural learning

Question 14

What is anticipation?

Answer 14

advanced strategy to enhance reaction time and performance

Question 15

What are the 2 types of anticipation? Describe each.

Answer 15

• spatial anticipation: anticipating what action will happen

- temporal anticipation: anticipating when an action will happen

Question 16

Give an example of spatial anticipation.

Answer 16

driver anticipates being cut off in a lane change

Question 17

Give an example of temporal anticipation.

Answer 17

sprinter anticipates the starter’s gun

Question 18

What are the costs of anticipation?

Answer 18

there could be a fake

Question 19

How does a fake affect anticipation?

Answer 19

• bottleneck effect
• stimulus 1 (fake) and stimulus 2 (actual) are processed in parallel until stimulus 1 (fake) reaches the bottleneck
• stimulus 2 (actual) must wait until the response-programming stage is cleared for further processing
• response to stimulus 2 (actual) is far later (more than 100ms)

Question 20

What is short-term sensory store (STSS)?

Answer 20

responsible for storing vast amounts of sensory information only long enough for some of it to be abstracted and further processed

Question 21

What is short-term memory? (STM)

Answer 21

It is a temporary holding place for information (e.g., a phone number given to you verbally).

Question 22

What is long-term memory? (LTM)

Answer 22

It contains very well-learned information that has been collected over a lifetime.

Question 23

What is choice reaction time?

Answer 23

the performer must choose one response from a subset of possible predetermined movements

Question 24

What is the difference between stimulus detection and stimulus identification?

Answer 24

• in stimulus detection the performer knows the response to make before the stimulus comes on
• in stimulus identification the performer needs to identify that the stimulus was the specified one before responding

Question 25

response time =

Answer 25

reaction time + movement time