Week 4 - Attention

Question 1

distinguish between divided and selective (focused) attention

Answer 1

Divided attention - process all inputs - studied by giving 2 or more stimuli’s and instructing to respond to all stimulus.

Selective (focused) attention - process only 1 input - studied by giving 2 or more stimuli and instructing to only respond to one.

Question 2

describe three early models of attention (i.e. Broadbent; Treisman; Deutsch and Deutsch)—including the key differences between them and the experiments that have identified strengths and weaknesses in each

Answer 2

Broadbent’s Early selection theory -
Sensory input (eg: sirens and person talking)
>Sensory register
>Selective filter (one stream of info selected for attention) (eg: person talking)
>Perceptual processes (applies meaning to info “this is my friend talking)
>Other cognitive processes (“How should I respond?”)
Weaknesses- sensory input is filtered out before meaning is ascribed.

Deutsch and Deutsch’s Late selection theory -
Same as Broadbent but ‘selective filter’ is moved to after ‘perceptual processes’ where meaning is ascribed before attention selection.

Treisman’s attenuation theory -
Instead of a ‘selective filter’ he suggests we have an “Attenuator” which merely ‘weakens’ one stream of info (the siren) but doesn’t ignore it completely (the cocktail party affect)

Question 3

describe the effect of perceptual versus cognitive load on focused attention

Answer 3

Perceptual Load Theory - Lavie, 1995
Allows selection to occur at multiple levels within system.
High perceptual load = Ignore competing stimuli
Low perceptual load = able to pay attention to other stimuli and may be easily distracted.

Question 4

compare and contrast the features of focused endogenous and exogenous visual attention

Answer 4

William James (1890)
Endogenous visual attention - Goal oriented - active or focal attention which is controlled by top down processes (goals and intentions) . Dorsal attention network.
Exogenous visual attention - stimulus directed - passive or automatic attention, controlled by data driven process and works on sensory info. Dependent on context and bottom up processing. Ventral attention network.

Question 5

list the factors that determine how well we operate in dual task conditions and describe, with examples, the four major dimensions of multiple resource theory.

Answer 5

Multiple resource theory -
Processing stages: successive stages of perception, cognition (eg: working memory) and responding.
Processing codes: Perception and cognition and responding can all use spatial &/or verbal codes.
Modalities: perception can involve visual &/or auditory resources.
Response Type: Responding may be manual or vocal.

Factors affecting dual task conditions - similarity of task, similarity of stimulus modality, similarity of response modality, practice and serial or parallel task processing.

Tasks requiring differing resources can be performed together more successfully than those requiring the same resources (eg: folding towels and listening to someone as opposed to speaking and listening at the same time)