Chapter 5, Cognitive Psychology

selective attention

• skill of focusing on one input/task while ignoring other stimuli in the environment

dichotic listening

• task in which participants simultaneously hear one message in left ear and another in right ear

• usually asked to pay attention to one of the inputs and ignore the other

attended channel

• stimulus/stimuli that is trying to be perceived

• info is understood/remembered

• dichotic listening task

unattended channel

• stimulus/stimuli that is trying not to be perceived

• little info is understood/remembered

• cocktail party effect: filters out participant’s own name & words of high significance

• dichotic listening task

shadowing

• task in which participants repeat back verbal input exactly as they hear it

• usually used in dichotic listening task to ensure attention

parallel attentional capacities/resources

• brain's ability to process multiple streams of info/stimuli simultaneously, instead of a serial (one-by-one) fashion

• parallel processing suggests resources can be distributed to multiple areas at once

attenuation model

• proposes that brain filters incoming sensory information by weakening irrelevant stimuli instead of completely blocking it

• explains cocktail party effect

all-or-none model

• Broadbent's filter theory

• suggests information processing is limited by strict bottleneck; information is either fully attended to or ignored

• incoming sensory data temporarily stored. selective filter chooses one channel of information based on physical characteristics, and info that does not pass through is discarded

filter

• hypothetical mechanism that blocks distractors from further processing

fixation target

• visual mark that participants point/fixate their eyes on

• helps control eye position

cocktail party effect

• other conversations in environment tuned out when having separate conversation

• other conversations filter through unattended channel

• conversation of attention filters through attended channel

inattentional blindness

• pattern of not “seeing” something that is directly in front of the eyes

• caused by attention being focused on other stimulus, not expecting target to appear

change blindness

• pattern in which large-scale changes aren’t/take long to be perceived

• evidence of not perceiving stimuli when it is not specifically being attended to

repetition-based priming

• phenomenon in which prior exposure to stimulus enhances speed/accuracy of processing upon recurrence

expectation-based priming

• phenomenon in which prior knowledge/context cue causes anticipation of specific stimulus, speeding up processing and directing selective attention to relevant, expected info

• uses top-down processing to prioritize spatial locations/stimuli

early selection hypothesis

• proposes selective attention operates in early processing stage

• causes unattended inputs to receive little analysis

late selection hypothesis

• proposes selective attention operates in later processing stage

• unattended inputs receive analysis

biased competition theory

• proposes attention functions by shifting priorities of neurons

• causes neurons to be more responsive to specific inputs

attentional control

• executive function

• capacity to consciously/unconsciously direct focus while ignoring irrelevant distractions

Posner cueing task

• neuropsychological test

• measures the way & how fast an individual’s spatial attention moves across visual field

• participants asked to maintain central gaze to see if they notice targets presented in their periphery

spotlight of attention

• concept in which conscious awareness is metaphorically a narrow beam of light (spotlight) that focuses on specific stimuli while ignoring others in surrounding environment

spatial attention

• mechanism in which processing resources are allocated to particular positions in space in order to efficiently process inputs from that region

limited-capacity system

• processes in which mental resources are limited, extra resources supplied to one process have to be balanced into other processes

• final result does not exceed limit of how much mental resource is initially available

mental resources

• process/capacity needed for performance

• limited in supply

exogenous control

• mechanism through which attention is automatically directed to “attention-grabbing” input

• attention is almost reflexive/non-volitional process

endogenous control

• mechanism through which the individual chooses (usually on basis of meaningful signal) where to focus attention

• consciously initiates & sustains attention, volitional process

feature integration theory

• proposes visual attention needed to bind separate features (colour, shape, orientation) into coherent object

• consists of 2 main stages:

  • automatic parallel processing of individual features

  • focused serial attention for combining these features (conjunction).

divided attention

• skill of performing multiple tasks simultaneously

• multi-tasking

executive control

• mental resources & processes used to set goals, task priorities & avoid conflict in completing habits/responses

preservation error

• response pattern in which same response is produced over and over, even though the task requires a change in response

• observed in brain damage in frontal lobe

goal neglect

• behaviour patten in which individuals fail to keep a goal in mind, but continue to rely on habitual responses, despite it not helping them

automaticity

• state achieved by tasks/processing in which it can be performed with little to no attention

• actions can be combined w/ other activities w/o interference

• can be difficult to control — referred to as “mental reflexes”

Stroop interference

• task in which participants asked to name colour of ink used to print word of another colour

• interference observed in participants, high failure rates

• classic demonstration of automaticity

disorders of attention

• damage to prefrontal cortex

• ADHD

mind wandering

• involuntary shifting of attention from primary task to unrelated internal thoughts (e.g., future, memories, worries)

• associated with lower mood, reduced task efficiency & increased errors

cascading inattention

• phenomenon in which initial lapse in attention triggers a "cascade" of further attentional failures

• impacts cognitive performance, learning & behavioural regulation over time