Week 7 - CN Lecture notes April 7 - The Attending Brain

Flashcards on attention, orienting, selection, neglect, capacity limits, and distractions.

What is the role of the fovea in visual information processing?

The fovea is critical for processing visual information due to its location at the center of the retina.

Where does the visual cortex process visual stimuli?

The visual cortex, located in the occipital lobe, processes visual stimuli.

What is the difference between overt and covert attention?

Overt attention involves moving the eyes along with the focus of attention, while covert attention involves focusing attention without directly looking at the object.

What is the difference between top-down and bottom-up attention?

Top-down attention is driven by internal goals and expectations, while bottom-up attention is driven by external stimuli that capture our attention.

What is the purpose of the Posner cueing task?

The Posner cueing task assesses attentional orienting using cues to direct attention to specific locations.

What is the attentional blink?

The attentional blink is a phenomenon where the detection of a second target is impaired if it appears shortly after a first target.

Is attentional selection object-based or feature-based?

Attentional selection is object-based, meaning attention is directed to whole objects rather than discrete features.

What is the difference between space-based (egocentric) and object-based (allocentric) neglect?

Space-based neglect is egocentric, affecting attention to one side of space from the person's perspective, while object-based neglect is allocentric, affecting attention to one side of an object regardless of its location.

What do bottleneck models suggest about attention?

Bottleneck models propose that attentional resources are limited, creating a bottleneck that restricts the amount of information that reaches conscious awareness.

How do biased competition models differ from bottleneck models?

Biased competition models suggest that all information is processed initially, and attention emerges from competition among neural representations, rather than information being blocked early on.

What are Intraparietal Sulcus (IPS) and Frontal Eye Fields (FEF) related to?

Dorsal Attention Network (DAN) top-down attention (voluntarily attending/looking for cues) includes visual brain areas like Intraparietal Sulcus (IPS) and Frontal Eye Fields (FEF)

What are Temporoparietal Junction (TPJ) and Ventral Frontal Cortex (VFC) related to? (🚙)

Ventral Attention Network (VAN) bottom-up attention (obvious attention cues) includes visual brain areas like Temporoparietal Junction (TPJ) and Ventral Frontal Cortex (VFC)

What happens if T2 appears right after T1 in Attentional blink?

If T2 appears right after T1, it is “spared” from the attentional blink and T2 accuracy increases

What do ERPs tell us about capacity limits?

P300 (related to working memory consolidation) wasn’t elicited when participants were looking for T2, supporting Attentional Blink

What does fMRI Research tell us about capacity limits?

Even when the stimuli was missed, the FFA would still be activated, whereas the PPA would not be activated, suggesting that frontal areas of the brain don’t process missed stimuli

What is Pd Component?

Pd Component is related to ignoring noticeable distractors