Cognitive Psychology: Attention and Memory Models

Why are attention capacity and selection linked?

Attention has limited capacity, so we must select relevant information and filter less relevant input.

Why is attention important for other cognitive-linguistic functions?

It supports processing of information needed for memory and communication; poor attention can limit performance on other cognitive tasks.

What must be considered when describing attention?

The stimulus (internal or external) and its modality, such as auditory or visual.

What is the cocktail party problem?

Attending to a target speech stream while competing, less relevant speech (the masker) is present.

What makes competing speech easier or harder to separate?

Greater spatial separation helps; greater linguistic similarity makes separation harder; understood masker languages can interfere more than unfamiliar languages.

How does Treisman's attenuation model differ from early filtering?

Unselected input is weakened rather than completely blocked, so it may remain available later.

How does the Deutsch and Deutsch late filter model explain selection?

All stimuli undergo early analysis; selection occurs later according to importance.

What does the load-based account of selective attention propose?

How much irrelevant input is ignored depends on perceptual load and cognitive control load of relevant information.

How do space-based and object-based visual attention differ?

Space-based spotlight selects WHERE, guided by location cues; object-based attention selects WHAT after features group into an object. Evidence supports both.

What does resource allocation theory propose?

A limited cognitive resource pool is flexibly shared; greater demands from one task leave fewer resources for another.

What is structural interference?

Two tasks using the same input modality interfere more than tasks using different modalities; some resources may be specialized by cognitive domain.

What does the central bottleneck model propose?

Resources are allocated sequentially to tasks rather than simultaneously; switching between tasks limits performance.

What is the original Sohlberg and Mateer attention hierarchy?

Focused, sustained, selective, alternating, divided; complexity increases through these five levels.

What is focused attention?

Orienting/responding to a specific stimulus in any modality; example: turning toward a sound.

What is sustained attention?

Maintaining attention during continuous/repetitive activity over time; example: monitoring a spoken list for target words.

What is selective attention?

Attending to a target while ignoring distractions; example: following conversation with background noise.

What is alternating attention?

Flexibly shifting focus between tasks or response sets; example: switching between listening to instructions and reading text.

What is divided attention in the original model?

Engaging in multiple tasks at once; the original model's most demanding level.

What changed in the revised attention model, and why?

Divided attention folded into alternating; working memory moved under executive control. Revision emphasized executive control and addressed limited clarity/research support for divided attention.

What attention impairments are common in TBI and dementia?

TBI: sustained, selective, and divided/alternating difficulties, varying with injury and patient factors; separate attention deficits from general slowing. Dementia: common deficits that typically worsen with progression.

What does attention status imply for memory assessment and treatment?

Impaired attention can reduce learning and complicate memory assessment/treatment; preserved attention provides a stronger foundation. It does not alone determine prognosis.

What does weak modularity mean in the memory discussion?

Some functions show localization, but memory also relies on broader, distributed representations and networks.

What is encoding, and what improves it?

Initial processing of material to learn; rehearsal, organization, deeper processing, and links to existing knowledge improve later storage/retrieval.

What is consolidation?

Stabilizing encoded information for longer-term storage; memories remain vulnerable to interference during this process.

How do proactive and retroactive interference differ?

Proactive: earlier learning interferes with newer information; retroactive: newer learning interferes with earlier information.

Why are recent memories more vulnerable after brain damage?

They may be less fully consolidated than older memories.

What is storage, and how do short- and long-term stores differ?

Holding information for later use; short-term storage is temporary unless transferred, while long-term storage is considered enduring unless disrupted by pathology.

What is retrieval, and how can recognition help?

Accessing stored information for use; recognition choices (multiple choice or yes/no) may make access easier than unaided recall.

How does context affect memory retrieval?

Recall is often better when retrieval conditions resemble the conditions in which information was learned.

Why practice retrieving information repeatedly?

Repeated retrieval increases the probability of successful retrieval later.

What supports a multiple-systems view of memory?

Some severe amnestic patients retain digit span/recent-item recall but cannot learn new material, showing that memory components can dissociate.

What is working memory?

Temporary storage and manipulation of information, including information retrieved from long-term memory.

What were the original components of Baddeley and Hitch's working memory model?

Central executive, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad.

What is the central executive's role in working memory?

Coordinates and controls working memory operations and its subsystems.

What is the phonological loop?

The inner ear/inner voice subsystem for temporary verbal/auditory information and rehearsal.

What is the visuospatial sketchpad?

The inner eye subsystem for temporary visual/spatial information.

What component was added to the working memory model in 2000?

Episodic buffer: a backup store communicating with long-term memory and working memory components.

How do working memory subsystems relate to long-term memory?

They temporarily maintain/rehearse information for transfer to long-term memory and hold information retrieved from long-term storage.

What are the two major long-term memory categories?

Declarative/explicit memory (consciously recalled information) and nondeclarative/implicit memory (learning expressed in behavior without conscious recall).

How do semantic and episodic memory differ?

Semantic: general facts/concepts, such as knowing a sparrow is a bird;

Episodic: personal events with what/where/when, such as your first school day.

How do procedural memory and priming differ?

Procedural: learned skills/habits, such as riding a bike; priming: prior exposure makes later processing easier without conscious recollection.

Which memory abilities may remain relatively preserved in amnesia?

Nondeclarative learning, including priming and procedural/perceptual skills, even when the person cannot recall the training episode.

What is prospective memory, and what are its two components?

Remembering to carry out a future intention; prospective component = remembering THAT you intended to act; retrospective component = remembering WHAT the action was.

How do event-based and time-based prospective memory differ?

Event-based: external cue triggers action (seeing a friend prompts a message); time-based: act at a set time/delay (medication at 8 pm), generally harder because there are fewer cues.

Which brain region supports prospective memory, and why is it clinically important?

Rostral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 10) keeps intentions active during other activities; prospective memory is vulnerable to brain pathology and aging.

What are executive functions?

Processes supporting purposeful, goal-directed behavior through planning, organization, initiation, and flexible adaptation.

What is initiation?

Beginning a goal-directed task.

What are the steps of problem-solving?

Identify problem, generate possible solutions, choose a solution, and evaluate the outcome.

What is mental flexibility?

Changing a course of action or thought as situational demands shift.

What is planning?

Setting objectives and determining actions to achieve them.

What is judgment?

Recognizing potentially good/harmful aspects of a situation and acting sensibly.

What is inhibition?

Selecting appropriate responses and suppressing unwanted actions.

What is reasoning?

Forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences from facts or premises.

What is self-regulation?

Managing thoughts, emotions, actions, and motivation to behave appropriately for the situation.

What is metacognition?

Awareness and understanding of your own thinking, skills, and learning.

Which executive abilities support successful communication?

Planning, flexible language across contexts, inhibition of inappropriate responses, and updating information as context/social cues change.

At what level are communication effects of executive dysfunction most evident?

Discourse level: connected communication such as conversation or narratives.

What communication problems can executive dysfunction cause?

Failure to consider others' perspectives, poor understanding of social implications, reduced inhibition, and disorganized discourse.

What is the anatomical basis of executive functions?

Frontal lobes and their connections, especially prefrontal regions and connected networks.

Which five prefrontal subdivisions are listed?

Dorsolateral, ventrolateral, orbitofrontal, dorsomedial, and ventromedial.

What does dorsolateral prefrontal cortex do?

Uses working memory and executive functions to monitor and adjust behavior.

What deficits are associated with dorsolateral prefrontal lesions?

Executive dysfunction, disinterest/emotional reactivity, and decreased attention to relevant stimuli.

What does ventrolateral prefrontal cortex do?

Response inhibition, goal-appropriate response selection, attentional control, and vigilance.

What deficits are associated with ventrolateral prefrontal lesions?

Emotional dysregulation and poor attention/vigilance.

What does orbitofrontal cortex do?

Supports personality, emotional input, social behavior, and suppression of distracting signals.

What deficits are associated with orbitofrontal lesions?

Emotional lability, disinhibition, distractibility, and social inappropriateness.

What does dorsomedial prefrontal cortex do?

Supports arousal, motivation, and initiation of activity.

What deficits are associated with dorsomedial prefrontal lesions?

Apathy, reduced drive/awareness, akinetic-abulic syndrome, and mutism.

What does ventromedial prefrontal cortex do, and what happens with damage?

Supports emotional control and empathy; lesions may impair judgment and cause inappropriate social behavior.

What broad connections help explain prefrontal effects on cognition and behavior?

Prefrontal regions connect with cortical association areas, basal ganglia/thalamic circuits, and emotion-related structures such as amygdala/cingulate; subdivisions have different connection patterns.