Introduction to Attention: Concepts, Models, and Experimental Paradigms

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards reviewing key terms, theoretical models (Broadbent, Treisman, Posner), and experimental tasks (Stroop, dichotic listening, visual search) from the lecture on attention.

Attention (William James' Definition)

The taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of several simultaneous possible objects or trains of thought, implying withdrawal from some things to deal effectively with others.

Selection

The core operational concept of attention whereby attending to a specific object causes it to be chosen apart from unattended stimuli in the environment.

Automatic Processes

Attentional processes triggered involuntarily by external events that operate in a fast, efficient, and obligatory manner with minimal cognitive effort.

Controlled Processes

Flexible, conscious processes that voluntarily direct attention to objects of interest, operating more slowly and consuming limited cognitive resources.

Salience

The property of a stimulus that makes it naturally pop out or capture attention automatically, regardless of voluntary intention.

Attentional Spotlight

A visual attention model proposed by Michael Posner stating that attention focuses on a specific part of the visual field at a time, allowing objects within it to be processed faster and with greater accuracy.

Cueing Paradigm

A laboratory method used to measure attention by presenting a brief spatial cue (such as a flashing box) to assess whether manipulating attention alters target detection speed.

Cocktail Party Effect

The ability to selectively single out and attend to a specific voice or auditory message amidst a noisy background of competing sounds.

Shadowing Task

An experimental technique used by Colin Cherry where subjects listen to two different messages simultaneously and repeat one specific message aloud as it plays.

Filter Model

A cognitive framework suggesting that attention acts like a sieve, blocking or ignoring irrelevant environmental distractors while allowing important information to pass through for deeper processing.

Broadbent's Single Filter Model

An early attentional model proposed in 1958 positing that sensory inputs are filtered early based entirely on physical characteristics, with unselected information completely eliminated from semantic analysis.

Dichotic Listening Paradigm

An experimental task where participants wear headphones playing a different auditory message into each ear and are instructed to shadow the message presented in one specified ear.

Breakthrough

The phenomenon in which highly relevant or meaningful information from an unattended channel (such as one's own name) penetrates the attentional filter and captures conscious awareness.

Treisman's Dual Filter Model

An attentional model proposing two filtering stages: an initial physical filter that weights incoming stimuli based on physical cues, followed by a semantic filter that evaluates meaning and relevance.

Physical Filter (Treisman)

The initial stage in Treisman's model that evaluates stimuli according to physical cues (such as pitch or intensity), assigning weights and passing all stimuli forward rather than completely eliminating them.

Semantic Filter (Treisman)

The second stage in Treisman's model that evaluates weighted stimuli for deeper meaning and relevance, capable of overriding early physical filtering decisions.

Stroop Task

A selective attention paradigm introduced in 1935 where participants are instructed to name the font color of a displayed word while ignoring the word's semantic meaning.

Congruent Trial

A trial in the Stroop task where the displayed word matches its font color (e.g., the word "red" displayed in red font), facilitating rapid color naming.

Incongruent Trial

A trial in the Stroop task where the word text conflicts with its font color (e.g., the word "blue" displayed in green font), causing interference and slower responses.

Stroop Effect

The measurable difference in response time between congruent and incongruent trials, demonstrating interference caused by automatic word reading during color naming.

Proportion Congruent Manipulation

An experimental variation that changes the ratio of congruent to incongruent trials in a Stroop task to investigate how strategic conscious control modulates automatic interference.

Visual Search Task

An experimental paradigm where a subject searches for a designated target item embedded within an array of distractor items.

Set Size

The total number of items presented within a visual search array that a participant is required to search through.

Set Size Effect

The increase in visual search difficulty and response time that occurs as the number of distractor items in the display increases.

Single Feature Search

A visual search task where the target differs from all distractors by a single visual attribute (such as shape or color), making it relatively easy to locate.

Pop-out Effect

The phenomenon in visual search where a target item stands out so distinctly that it is identified rapidly and effortlessly regardless of the display's set size.

Conjunction Search Task

A visual search task where identifying the target requires evaluating a combination of two or more visual features (e.g., searching for a green 'T' among green 'I's and red 'T's), making search times heavily dependent on set size.

Contextual Cueing

The cognitive facilitation that allows visual search tasks to proceed more efficiently by relying on environmental regularities, familiarity, or prior knowledge of spatial layout.