Psych Unit 2: Attention

attention

the processing through cognition of a select portion of information coming from senses and contained in memory

selective attention

focusing on one thing while ignoring another

attentional resource theories

suggest that we have only a fixed amount of attention, and this resource can be divided up as is required in a given situation

filter theories

suggest that stimuli must pass through some form of screen/filter to enter into attention

cocktail party phenomenon

when a person can carry a conversation in a room full of them but is quickly drawn to another by a key stimulus, ex their name

shadowing

a study where a participant has to do dichotic listening, used to study selective attention, the repetition is referred to as this

divided attention

trying to focus on more than one task at a time

change blindness

demonstrates a potential weakness of selective attention

binocular depth cues

cues that rely on both eyes viewing an image because each eye sees a given image from a diff. angle

retinal disparity

each eye sees a given image from a diff. angle

retinal convergence

a depth cue that results from the fact that your eyes must turn inward to focus on near objects

visual perception

complex, to perceive depth, size, shape, and motion

monocular depth cues

cues that refer to the qualities of a visual scene that let you know how close or how far things are from you, using just one eye

relative size

refers to the fact that images that are farther from us project a smaller image on the retina

texture gradient

texture appear to grow more dense as distance increases

interposition

occurs when a near object partially blocks the view of an object behind it

linear perspective

a monocular cue based on the eprception that parallel lines seem to draw closer together farther back

vanishing point

the place where two lines become indistinguishable from a single line and then disappear

relative clarity

perceptual clue that relies on less distinct, fuzzy images appearing to be more distant

constancy

means that we know that a stimulus remains the same size, shape, etc even though it does not appear to

motion detection

one of the most complex abilities, we perceive through two processes

apparent movement

ex. blinking lights, a motion picture, and still light that twinkles in darkness