PS251 - Failures of Attention Research

How do cognitive psychologists study failure of attention?

By using controlled experiments that measure how and when people miss or misprocess information

Dichotic listening task (Broadbent, 1958)

• Hear 2 different messages in each ear and asked to “shadow” one

• Typically recall very little from unattended ear, showing unattended info is filtered out early in processing

• Moray (1959): participants could detect personally relevant info in unattended message demonstrating cocktail party effect

Dual-task or divided attention paradigms

• Exams what happens when trying to perform 2 tasks simultaneously.

• Drews (2007): participants using hands-free mobiles while in simulated driving show slower RT and twice as likely to miss red light

• Demonstrates inattention blindness: attention to one task reduces awareness of other important info

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