attention

Unilateral neglect syndrome is a defect in attention

selective

Selective attention

the skill through which one focuses on one input or one task while ignoring other stimuli.

True or false: In selective attention, the brain automatically picks one thing to perceive

TRUE

Dichotic listening task (procedure)

participants asked to pay attention to only one input (through headphones: different channels in each ear)

The input participants pay attention to in the dichotic listening task is the channel

attended

The input participants ignore in the dichotic listening task is the channel

unattended

Shadowing (in the dichotic listening task)

Repeat out loud the information from the attended channel (confirms that they were paying attention)

True or false: Most participants were able to shadow the attended channel in the dichotic listening task

TRUE

Invisible gorilla experiment (summary and results)

Asked to pay attention to ppl in white shirts passing ball -> most didn't see gorilla partway through

Participants are generally clueless about the content of the unattended channel.

semantic

Which aspects of the unattended channel are not ignored? (2)

"1) Physical attributes (e.g., speech versus music; speaker's gender)

2) Personally important semantic content (e.g., your name)"

Cocktail party effect

1950s discovery - you can understand and converse with someone even with a lot of background noise

Early theory for information ignored and leaked through the unattended channel

filter (or gate)

When you think of attention as a gate, ____ are blocked out while ____ ____ are not

(potential) distractors, attended inputs

Theories of attention need to be able to explain how we… (2)

"1) Inhibit new or unexpected distractors

2) Promote the processing of desired stimuli"

Inattentional blindness

the failure to see a prominent stimulus, even if one is staring right at it

Two possible reasons for inattentional blindness

because you don’t expect that stimulus, or because you’re focused on something else

True or false: Inattentional blindness is unique and doesn't have equivalents for other senses

"False: Inattentional deafness (auditory corollary),

Inattentional numbness (haptic corollary)"

Change blindness

the inability to detect changes in a scene despite looking at it directly

True or false: Change blindness has been observed when looking at photos, videos, and real life

TRUE

What may inattentional blindness and change blindness both stem from? (2)

A failure to perceive OR remember the stimulus

Two proposed theories for attenton created after gate theory

Early and Late selection hypothesis

Early selection hypothesis (3 steps)

Only the attended input is analyzed and perceived -> Unattended information receives little or no analysis -> Never perceived

In the early selection hypothesis, is unattended information ever perceived?

No

Late selection hypothesis (3 steps)

All inputs are analyzed -> Selection occurs after analysis (before consciousness or later) -> Unattended information might be perceived, but is then forgotten

In the late selection hypothesis, is unattended information ever perceived?

Yes (but then it is forgotten)

In which selection hypothesis are all inputs analyzed?

Late selection hypothesis

True or false: There is evidence that both the early and late selection hypotheses are true

True - both happen!

Did participants see the top or bottom line as larger?

Top

Were participants aware the non-line dots were there?

No

How long did it take for participants' brain activity to change for attended vs unattended noises?

within 80ms

Would people be able to notice when they started ignoring an audio?

No

Selection may be a consequence of priming based on your

expectations

Steps of selection as a consequence of priming (2)

"1) Perceiver anticipates the attended channel.

2) Detectors that are needed for the (now expected) input are primed. (-> fire more readily)"

Which types of information are primed already regardless of expectation? (2)

Some high-frequency or salient information (ex: your name)

Biased competition theory

attention creates a temporary bias in neuron sensitivity

True or false: According to the biased competition theory, all sensory stimuli face competition for attention

True (can only choose a few to pay attention to vs ignore)

Three steps of biased competition theory

Neurons receive input from attended stimuli and distractors -> Attention adjusts neurons' priorities -> Only desired inputs receive further processing.

How does attention adjust neurons' priorities according to biased competiton theory?

Causes neurons to be more responsive to input with desired properties, but less responsive to everything else

Spatial attention

your ability to focus attention on a specific location in space

Repetition priming

priming produced by a prior encounter with the stimulus

Expectation-driven priming

detectors for inputs you think are upcoming are deliberately primed.

Expectation-driven priming is not done for inputs or inputs in which you have no

unexpected, interest

Is repetition priming or expectation-driven priming stimulus-driven?

repetition priming

Is repetition priming or expectation-driven priming effortful?

expectation-driven priming

Which type of priming requires no effort or cognitive resources?

repetition priming

Most successful paradigm to test spatial attention

Posner et al.'s cued fixation task

Posner et al.'s spatial attention task (summary)

Supposed to stare at center fixation mark and press button when letters to the left or right come -> before each trial, either neutral cue or 80% accurate arrow showing location of letter

In Posner et al.'s spatial attention task, did participants react faster with an accurate, inaccurate, or no cue?

accurate cue (attentional benefit)

In Posner et al.'s spatial attention task, did participants react the slowest with an accurate, inaccurate, or no cue?

inaccurate cue (attentional cost)

Why did participants react faster with a valid/accurate cue?

biased attention towards the cue, so processing the target was faster

Posner et al.'s spatial attention task is an example of priming

expectation-driven

How do we study attention? (broadly)

We break it down to its various forms.

Four types of attention we often focus on

"1) internal or external attention

2) selective or non-selective attention

3) overt or covert attention

4) goal-directed vs. stimulus-driven attention"

When is non-selective attention often seen?

When tired, drunk, etc.

Difference between overt and covert attention

overt: shift to deep attention with eye movement; covert: without

goal-directed attention

when attention is guided by the task at hand