Lecture 08: Auditory Attention & Automaticity

These flashcards cover key concepts from Lecture 08 focusing on auditory attention, processing models, and automaticity.

Controlled attention

The intentional, effortful, purposeful focusing of mental resources.

Selective auditory attention

The process of filtering out unselected auditory data and allowing selected data to receive additional processing.

Early-filter model

A model proposing that attentional selection occurs immediately after sensory registration, based on physical characteristics.

Dichotic listening

A method where participants listen to two different messages presented to each ear and are instructed to focus on one.

Message shadowing

The technique of repeating aloud the message that is being attended to in a dichotic listening task.

Cocktail party phenomenon

The ability to shift attention towards a significant stimulus, such as one's name, even in a noisy environment.

Treisman’s findings

Results that challenge early-filter models; indicating meanings of unattended messages can be processed.

Galvanic skin responses (GSRs)

Physiological reactions that indicate emotional responses, such as anxiety, used in studies of attentional processing.

Multimode model

A theory suggesting that cognitive selection can occur at all stages of processing, both early and later.

Automaticity

The ability of processes to operate without the need for attentional resources, typically developed through extensive practice.

Stroop effect

A phenomenon illustrating the difficulty in naming ink colors of words when the word meanings are incongruent.

Resource independence

The notion that some cognitive processes do not demand cognitive resources, allowing for simultaneous tasks.

Posner and Boies (1971) study

Research that suggested letter encoding does not require cognitive resources, which was later contested.

Confounding variables

Extraneous factors that might affect the outcomes of an experiment, leading to misinterpretations of results.

Barshi and Healy (1993) study

Research demonstrating the possible downsides of automatic processes in proofreading, leading to poorer error detection.