Video Module 10: Divided Attention

Question 1

cognitive budget

Answer 1

the idea that we have limited attentional resources to be split across tasks; we have a limited attention capacity
- we have task-general resources and modality-specific resources

Question 2

task-general resources (attention)

Answer 2

the idea that we possess a single pool of attentional resources which we can divide amongst multiple concurrent tasks
- executive function
- response selector

Question 3

modality-specific resources (attention)

Answer 3

the idea that we have specific attentional budgets for different sensory modalities

Question 4

Is our cognitive budget a pool of general resources, or is it modality-specific?

Answer 4

Both. We have a general cognitive budget, however tasks that share modalities or demand similar aspects of our attention (e.g. reading and writing) will compete for attentional resources.
- The more similar two tasks are, the more difficult it becomes to do them simultaneously

Question 5

What are key aspects of task general attentional resources?

Answer 5

1. General resources don’t rely on a specific modality
2. We must use a response selector to decide what we’ll direct our attentional resources to
3. General resources rely on executive control, or the process of setting goals and priorities, choosing what goals to pursue, and deciding which rules to follow

Question 6

perseveration errors

Answer 6

In which participants continue to use the same response strategy or adhere to the same rule even after being directed to use another strategy/rule.
- In a card sorting task, participants with damage to their PFC had difficulty sorting the cards by numbers after first being instructed to sort them by color. They “persevered” with the initial task.
- This demonstrates a failure in executive control

Question 7

What factors may affect dual task performance (doing two things at the same time)?

Answer 7

1. task similarity: it’s easier to attempt two dissimilar tasks at the same time, than attempt two similar tasks which compete for the same modality-specific resources.
2. task difficulty: more difficult tasks require more attentional resources
3. practice: tasks which are more practiced (e.g. reading, walking, typing) require less attentional resources

Question 8

Does having a conversation interfere with your ability to drive?

Answer 8

Yes. Research shows that talking on a cellphone can significantly affect driving performance, despite driving and holding a conversation over the phone requiring different modalities. However, holding a conversation with a passenger is slightly more safe, perhaps due to the fact that passengers can pause the conversation to avoid distractions

Question 9

automatic processes

Answer 9

1. require little attention
2. can run in parallel: we can perform automatic tasks simultaneously with other tasks
3. are resistant to interference: not easily disrupted
   e.g. walking, reading words, reflexes

Question 10

controlled processes

Answer 10

1. require attention
2. run in serial: we can only focus on one controlled process at a time
3. interferable: attempting to do a second task will worsen our performance
   e.g. brain surgery, taking quizzes

Question 11

What is Stroop Interference? How does this demonstrate the concepts of automatic and controlled processes?

Answer 11

Stroop interference (Stroop effect) is the tendency to experience a delay in performing a controlled process due to an interfering automatic process. A common example is a study in which participants are asked to name the color text of a list of words (controlled process). Participants have a harder time naming the colors of a word if it is a color name and if it is incongruent (e.g. “red” in blue ink) than naming the colors of random letter arrays. This is due to the interference of reading, an automatic process.