Sensory adaptation and attention

Adaptation

A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce

Habituation

an organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it

Dishabituation

recovery of a habituated response after a change in stimulation

Selective attention

the ability to focus on only one stimulus from among all sensory input

Cocktail party phenomenon

a phenomenon in which people tune in one message even while they filter out others nearby

Shadowing

Technique where a participant is asked to repeat a word or phrase immediately after its heard

Filter theories

a stimulus must pass through some filter or screen to enter our attention

Attentional resource theories

we have only a fixed amount of attention, and this resource can be divided up as is required in a given situation

Divided attention

concentrating on more than one activity at the same time

Inattention blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere