Chapter 7: Attention and Scene Perception

attention

any of the very large set of selective processes in the brain

selective attention

The form of attention involved when processing is restricted to a subset of the possible stimuli.

external attention

attending to stimuli in the world

internal

attending to one line of thought over another or selecting one response over another

overt

directing a sense organ towards a stimulus

covert

attending without giving an outward sign you are doing so

divided

splitting attention between 2 different stimuli

sustained

continuosly monitoring some stimulus

inattentional blindnesss

a failure to notice a stimulus that would be easily reportable if it were attended.

change blindness

is a failure to notice a change between 2 scenes.

top-down processing

interpretation based on prior knowledge, expectations, and experiences

bottom-up processing

building perception from indiviual sensory inputs to form a complete perception.

reaction time

is the time taken to respond to a stimulus, often measured in experiments to assess attention and perceptual processes.

cue

a stimulus that provides information to guide attention and perception.

Stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA):

The time between the onset of one stimulus and the onset of another.

Inhibition of return (IOR)

The relative difficulty in getting attention (or the eyes) to move back to a recently attended (or fixated) location.

spotlight model

attention is restricted in space and moves from one point to hte next. areas within the spotlight receive extra processing

zoom lens model

the attended region can grow or shrink depending on the size of the area to be processed.

visual search

looking for a target in a dispaly containingg distracting elements

guided search

attention is restricted to a subset of possible items based on infromation about the item’s basic feaures

scene-based guidance