W3a - Sensory Contributions Flashcards
What is attention?
attention is a resource (or “pool” of slightly different resources) that is available and that can be used for various purposes, and is related to the limitations in doing two things at the same time. The performer must learn what to attend to and when, and must shift attention skillfully between events in the environment, monitoring and correcting her own actions, planning future actions, and doing many other processes that compete for the limited resources of attentional capacity.
What is parallel processing?
There is evidence that some processing can occur “in parallel” (that is, without attention) in the stimulus identification stage, but that much less parallel processing occurs in the response selection stage. Finally, considerable interference often exists among tasks in the movement programming stage. With parallel processing, two or more streams of information can enter the system at the same time and can be processed together without interfering with each other. The Stroop Effect - In some cases, the words printed have no semantic relationship to the colors in which they are printed, as in list a. In other cases, as in list b, the ink colors compete with the names of the words themselves and require more attention. There is also considerable parallel processing of the sensory signals from the muscles and joints associated with posture and locomotion, and people seem to handle these together and without much awareness.
What is the cocktail party effect?
that some “unattended” features of sensory processing are processed in parallel with other “attended” information, eg You can be engaged in an ongoing conversation and suddenly hear your name being spoken in a conversation in which you are not involved at all.
What is inattention blindness?
people who are engaged in attention-demanding tasks are likely to miss quite obvious things. Looked but failed to see accidents
What is sustained attention and what factors affect it?
operator’s motivation, arousal, and, of course, fatigue (clearly related to the accumulated amount of time in performing the task). Environmental factors, such as temperature and noise, are also known to affect sustained attention
What are the major limitations to response selection?
when the performer must perform two actions simultaneously, with each task requiring mental operations, such as answering a telephone call while pouring water into a coffee maker. thought to be done during response selection because they require that choices be made among several possible alternative responses
What is automaticity and the costs and benefits of it?
Completing a task without requiring much attention, often as a result of an enormous amount of practice, benefit of which is it’s fast and not that demanding/ doesn’t generate much interference with other tasks. Errors can occur if environment does not respond as predicted. Therefore more effective for closed skills, unless a large amount of practice
How do you develop automaticity?
Practice where the response generated is related consistently to a particular stimulus pattern (consistent mapping)
What is movement programming and what are the limitations to it?
third in the sequence of information-processing stages (after the performer has perceived what the environment will allow, and after having chosen a response that meets those demands, the performer must still organize the motor system in order to actually execute the action.). Trying to respond to a change in an unplanned stimulus, for example a person faking a shot. Causing interference to the movement programming stage, requiring the motor system to be reorganised make the required movement. Agility training
What is the dbl stimulation paradigm?
where the subject is required to respond, with separate responses, to each of two stimuli presented very closely together in time
What is the psychological refactory period?
The delay in responding to the second of two closely spaced stimuli is termed the psychological refractory period (PRP). Some principles of faking emerge from research on psychological refractoriness. First, the fake—the first response—should be realistic, distinct, and clear, so the defensive player treats it as an actual shot. Second, for the effective fake, the single programmed action that contains both the fake and the actual shot is planned so as to separate the fake (stimulus 1) and the actual shot (stimulus 2) sufficiently to generate a relatively large delay for the response to stimulus 2. Too short and the defensive player can ignore it. Too long the defender will respond to the second stimulus with an essentially normal RT. The biggest attentional limitation of all appears to be in the movement programming stage. The overall viewpoint appears to be that, while we may be able under certain circumstances to respond without attention in the stimulus identification and response selection stages, only one action can be programmed at a time during the movement programming stage.
What is the probe task technique?
different approach to studying the attention demanded during the movement programming stage. Here, the researcher would have the subject perform one task (the primary task). At some point in the performance of the primary task, the researcher would probe (or test) the attention demanded in the main task by presenting a secondary task, usually a discrete stimulus.
What is the difference between internal and external focus of attention?
internal source, for example monitoring an ongoing movement, external - attention directed more effectively at an external target, such as an object to be struck or the intended effect that the action will have on the environment. Generally external focus is prepared, particularly when it comes time to perform the movement
How does our decision making ability change under stress?
The level of arousal imposed by a situation is an important determinant of performance, particularly if the performance is dependent on the speed and accuracy of decision making.
What is the inverted u principle and its variation?
increasing the arousal level generally enhances performance, but only to a point. Variation - task differences, as well as individual differences in the subject’s “excitability,” can result in changes to the shapes of the curve, with optimal performance occurring at either the lower or higher ends of the arousal continuum. Such a curve might represent the shape for a particularly complex task, perhaps requiring fine motor control (threading a needle) or cognition (playing chess), or for an individual who functions best under calm conditions. In contrast, another curve could represent the arousal–performance function for a very simple task, perhaps requiring great amounts of force with very little cognition (e.g., powerlifting) or for a person who thrives under pressure
