Psych 207 - Module 4 Attention

Q: How did William James describe attention?

A: As taking possession of one object or thought among many, involving focus, concentration, and withdrawal from other stimuli.

Q: What does attention help us do?

A: Select what to focus on, manage multiple stimuli, and avoid distraction.

Q: What topics does this module cover?

A: Selective attention, automaticity, attentional disorders, and real-world attention (e.g., cell phone use while driving).

Q: What is selective attention?

A: The ability to focus on certain information while ignoring other stimuli.

Q: What was the introspection demonstration designed to show?

A: How difficult it is to focus on one stream of information while ignoring irrelevant intrusions.

Q: What distractors do people typically notice in selective attention tasks?

A: Novel items, emotional words, numbers, and names.

Q: What does Broadbent's Filter Theory propose?

A: Selection occurs early based on physical characteristics, before meaning (semantics) is processed.

Q: What experimental method supported Broadbent’s model?

A: The dichotic listening + shadowing task.

Q: According to Broadbent, what information is processed from the unattended ear?

A: Only basic physical features (pitch, volume), not meaning.

Q: What real-world phenomenon contradicts Broadbent’s theory?

A: The cocktail party effect (hearing your name in an unattended conversation).

Q: What does Treisman’s Attenuation Theory propose?

A: The unattended channel is not fully blocked but "attenuated," allowing important or meaningful information to leak through.

Q: What kinds of stimuli leak through the attenuated filter?

A: Personally relevant information (e.g., your name, warning words).

Q: What did Corteen & Wood condition participants to fear?

A: Specific Canadian city names paired with mild electric shocks.

Q: What happened when conditioned city names were played in the unattended ear?

A: Participants showed GSR responses despite not being aware of hearing them.

Q: What happened when new (unconditioned) Canadian cities were played?

A: Participants still showed GSRs—indicating semantic processing of the unattended message.

Q: Why is the Corteen & Wood experiment important?

A: It shows unattended information can be processed to semantic levels, contradicting early-selection theories.

Q: What does the late selection model propose?

A: All information is fully processed to the level of meaning; attention selects what reaches awareness or response.

Q: According to this model, what happens to unattended information?

A: It is processed and activates memory representations, even if we’re unaware of it.

Q: What is the resource metaphor of attention?

A: Attention is like fuel — tasks require varying amounts of limited attentional resources.

Q: What happens to tasks with practice?

A: They require fewer attentional resources and can become automatic.

Q: How can automaticity be harmful?

A: Automatic processes can interfere with controlled tasks (e.g., reading interfering with color naming).

Q: What is the Stroop effect?

A: Slower, more error-prone naming of ink colors when words spell conflicting color names.

Q: Why does Stroop interference occur?

A: Reading is automatic and cannot be easily suppressed, interfering with color naming.

Q: Who experiences less Stroop interference?

• Young children (not yet automatic readers)

• People reading in a newly learned language

Q: What are characteristics of controlled processes?

• Serial

• Require attention

• Capacity-limited

• Under conscious control

Q: What are characteristics of automatic processes?

• Occur without intention

• Do not require attention

• Parallel

• Fast and effortless

Q: Can automatic processes interfere with other tasks?

A: Yes — the automatic outcome (e.g., reading a word) can disrupt controlled tasks.

Q: What causes visual neglect?

A: Right parietal lobe lesions.

Q: What do individuals with visual neglect fail to attend to?

A: The left side of visual and even mental space.

Q: Is neglect a sensory or attentional deficit?

A: Attentional — patients can see left-side stimuli but cannot attend to them.

Q: What is the line bisection test in neglect?

A: Patients mark the midpoint far to the right, ignoring the left portion.

Q: What happens when neglect patients copy drawings?

A: They omit the left side of objects.

Q: What real-life difficulties does neglect cause?

A: Ignoring food on the left side of the plate, grooming only half the body.

Q: What did their study reveal about neglect?

A: Patients neglect the left side of mental images, not just visual space.

Q: What is the significance of mental imagery neglect?

A: Shows neglect is a disorder of attention, not vision — memory is intact.

Q: What task did Strayer & Johnston use to simulate driving?

A: Pursuit tracking with responses to red (brake) vs green (ignore) signals.

Q: What were the single vs dual task results?

A: Many more missed red lights and slower reactions during cell phone conversations.

Q: Did listening to the radio impair performance?

A: No — only cell phone conversations did.

Q: Does hands-free calling solve the problem?

A: No — the issue is attentional load, not hand use.

Q: Why is talking to a passenger safer than talking on the phone?

A: Passengers share the driving context and naturally adjust conversation demands.

Q: What is the main takeaway about attention in the real world?

A: Attention is limited; multitasking (especially phone use while driving) exceeds those limits.