visual attention Flashcards
what are the 2 limits of attention
we can do more than one task at a time
the more we practice, the less attention a task requires
what is parallel processing
we can do more than one thing at a time HOWEVER we can engage with more than one thing but are we doing them at the same time?
to study parallel processing, what must the task have no of?
delays to ensure p’s dont switch attention to the other task
what are discrete tasks
one of 2 tasks happening at the same time
what are continuous tasks
monitoring something happening on a screen
shaffer 1975
found that will touch typing, once skilled, less attention was required
experts could recite nursery rhymes while touch-typing with less than 10% loss of accuracy
however
skilled typists may see a word and then switch attention while writing it, can still switch attention
consistent attention requirements
study
4 tasks and get person to do them in various combinations
1-sing a song
2-follow moving dot with joystick
3-remember a list of words
4-imagine walking around their house
results depends on which tasks are paired together to determine attention demand
e.g. if made to do 1 and 3 something happens with out memory which begins to interact with our auditory system
both of these tasks are trying to happen so our auditory system gets confused
what do multiple resource theories suggest
that there are different types of attention
visual and auditory attention
driver and spence 1994
driver and spence 1994
visual and auditory attention
visual and auditory attention
study
3 word triplets from left or right speaker, the participants had to repeat the triplet
there was a tv on top of both screens which one showed a face miming the words
results showed that accuracy was best if face on same side as sound
accuracy was irrespective of hearing
showed visual and auditory system are separate
what is allocation of attention
the idea we can split and allocate our attention
allocation of attention
sperling and melcher 1978
sperling and melcher 1978
allocation of attention
allocation of attention
study
a doughnut appeared in which 4 letters were written in the hole and 16 were written on the doughnut
2 letters flashed either in the hole or on the doughnut
p’s were told where to allocate their attention
identification of flashed letters was significantly better when attending to that area
proves we can allocate attention somewhere
what is covert attention
mentally shifting out focus without moving our eyes
posner 1980
what is exogenous attention
automatic attention shifts caused by external stimulation
bottom up processing
what is endogenous attention
controlled by intentions in response to cues
voluntarily shifting attention
top down processing
what is automaticity
practice makes the task automatic
fewer attentional resources are required
what is ignored stimuli
stimuli we choose not to pay attention to
e.g. simons and chabris 1999-gorilla
simons and chabris 1999
gorilla
gorilla
simons and chabris 1999
what happens when someone shouts fire or duck
we must be processing unattended material
everything is processed to some extent
what is filter theories split into
late
early
what are late filter theories
both sensory and semantic meaning properties are allowed in before filtering
what are early filter theories
filters are just after the sensory information is processed
early filter theories
cherry 1953
cocktail party effect
we have a filter that has our name in it so the information gets passed straight through
cherry 1953
cocktail party effect
cocktail party effect
cherry 1953
early filter theories
broadbent 1958
‘dichotic listening’
different streams of information presented to each ear
told to repeat information delivered to one of the ears
after the task, report what was going on in the other ear
we cannot report was was going on in the unattended stream, however could identify when it went from male to female speaker
supporting an early filter
early filter theories
cherry 1953
broadbent 1958
late filter theories
deutsch and deutsch 1960 and norman 1968
mordy 1959
late filter theories
deutsch and deutsch 1960 and norman 1968
both physical and meaning are processed before we hit the filter
late filter theories
moray 1959
added participants name’s to the unattended stream in dichotic listening task and found that only some people noticed
movable filter theory
heinz 1978
heinz 1978
movable filter theory
what is movable filter theory
the position of the filter is under our control, we can allocate attention completely to one part or a little bit to that part
movable filter theory
study
gave p’s 2 lists of words and told them to shadow one list.
some told to shadow words based on physical characteristics e.g. by a man
some told to shadow words based on meaning e.g. those relating to teacher
also performed secondary task at same time at which they watched a screen and pushed a button when a light appeared
reaction times to light was longer when semantic shadowing rather than physical and more errors in semantic
higher attentional price to pay from semantic processing rather than physical
what are 2 types of searches
disjunctive
conjunctive
what is a disjunctive search
target is different from distractors in one obvious way
what is a conjunctive search
more than one feature differentiates from distractors
why does selection sometimes fail
sometimes just doesnt work
told not to engage in something but do
‘inhibition of return’- inhibits you to return your attention to a spot you’ve just engaged in
wegner et al 1987
says there are 2 processes to guide how we engage with our attention
wegner et 1987
study
think out loud for 5 mins but do not think of a white bear
there were an average 7 white bear thoughts every 5 mins
what are the 2 processes to guide how we engage with our attention according to wegner et al 1987
operating process
monitoring process
what is an operating process
helps you think about what you want to think about and distracts you from thinking about what not to think about
what is a monitoring process
searches for items inconsistent with what you want to think about it
sensitivity
influences holding attention
ask someone to monitor the sea for ships, their sensitivity to ship spotting will partially determine how many they will see
their bias in ship-spotting describes how ship-like a wave has to be before the person accepts it as a ship
