attention (kms)

psb 2000 attention module

selective attention

the process of focusing on one or more stimuli while ignoring others

overt attention

a form of attention where the focus of the eyes aligns with the attentional target

covert attention

a form of attention where focus is independent of sensory orientation or location

what is the key difference between overt and covert attention regarding sensory orientation

in overt attention, the eyes focus aligns with the attended target, whereas in covert it does not

the cocktail party effect

the ability to filter out unattended stimuli in noisy environments to focus on a particular target

the cocktail party effect is a real world example of what type of attention?

selective attention

what is the function of the attentional bottleneck?

it filters out selectively important stimuli for cognitive processing

inattentional blindness

the failure to perceive unattended stimuli

what does inattentional blindness reveal about our attentional capacity?

it reveals that our attentional capacity is limited, causing us to mix things we are not actively attending to

the symbolic cueing task

experimental task that measures reaction time to targets that appear after cues

what is the purpose of a sustained attention task in research?

to confirm that attention enhances neural activity in relevant brain regions

in a feature research

the target is identified immediately due to its unique attention

perceptual load

the amount of cognitive resources required to process stimuli

what happens when a task involves a heavy perceptual load?

there are not enough cognitive resources left to multitask and attend to other stimuli

what brain regions are involved in attention mechanisms?

superior colliculus, pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus, dorsal frontoparietal and temporoparietal

which brain network is specifically involved in the voluntary control of attention?

the dorsal parietal network

what role does the intraparietal sulcus play in attention?

the voluntary control of attention

what is the function of the frontal eye field?

directs gaze according to cognitive goals rather than the characteristics of the stimuli

what is the purpose of the superior colliculus in regard to attention?

it guides movement of the eyes toward objects of attention

what is the purpose of the pulvinar nucleus in regard to attention?

involved in visual processing, orienting, shifting attention, and filtering of stimuli

frontal eye field (fef)

directs gaze according to cognitive goals , not stimulus characteristics

hemispatial neglect

a condition where no attention is paid to one side of the body or to things presented on that side

what is the general consequence of damage to the brains attentional systems?

it can dramatically alter our ability to understand and interact with the environment