Attention

Input attention

Alertness/arousal, orienting reflex, spotlight attention & search

What does controlled attention include?

Selective attention, mental resources/conscious processing, supervisory attentional system

Alertness/Arousal: What is vigilance/sustained attention?

Maintaining focus over prolonged periods of time. Our alertness decreases over time.

Effectiveness is influenced by:

Length of signal, frequency of signal, busyness of background/noise

The Central Executive

Attentional controller with two components: semi-automatic conflict-resolution system and supervisory attentional system (SAS)

Semi-automatic conflict-resolution system

Without conscious awareness

Supervisory attentional system (SAS)

-crucial, intervenes when automatic conflict resolution is not possible

Perseveration

-repeatedly performing the same action or mistake

-failure to focus resulting in utilizing behaviors

-indiscriminately make use of cues in environment

-failure to monitor behavior

-inappropriate for situation

-suggests that the SAS relies on the frontal lobes

Orienting Reflex

Reflexive redirection of attention towards an unexpected, novel stimulus

Attention as a Mental Process

Much of our cognitive processing requires attention, concentrating effort on a stimulus or mental event

Attention as a Resource

Attention is limited and must be divided between ongoing tasks

Default Mode Network

-set of brain structures that are more active when we are idle than when we are actively processing information

-medial prefrontal cortex

-posterior cingulate cortex

-angular gyrus

Pre-attentive processing

Processing before the focus of attention is brought to a stimulus

Post-attentive processing

Processing once attention is focused on a stimulus

Selective Attention

The ability to select certain stimuli in the environment to process, ignoring other irrelevant information

Zoom Lens Model

Attention can be 'zoomed' in or out; broad attention slows processing, narrow attention speeds it up

Spotlight Model

Spotlight can be aimed at stimuli of interest; area outside of the spotlight is unattended

Dual Task Methods

Requires participants to do two tasks simultaneously to observe the effects on attention

Dual Task vs. Multitasking

Dual task requires two tasks to be performed concurrently; multitasking allows shifting back and forth between tasks

Broadbent's Filter Model

Proposes that information is filtered early in the processing stream based on physical characteristics. Cannot account for phenomena like the cocktail party phenomenon

Divided Attention

Splitting your attention between multiple tasks

Dual-Task Interference

Cost to performance when doing 2+ tasks simultaneously

Psychological Refractory Period

Period of time after presentation of a stimulus where a second stimulus cannot be processed

Capacity Theory

We have a set capacity for attention; exceeding limits results in task failures

Divided Attention and Aging

General decline in performance when using multiple types of targets and increasing number of tracked items

How can we improving multitasking?

Practice tasks, use less speed, find tasks that are less similar

Controlled vs. Automatic Processing

Automatic processing requires little to no conscious processing; controlled processing requires conscious effort

Action Slips

Absentminded mistakes made while engaged in automatic processing

Attentional Blink

Period of time after detection of a visual stimulus during which another stimulus can't be detected

Change Blindness

Failure to notice a change in the environment

Inattentional Blindness vs. Change Blindness

Single scene vs. subsequently presented scenes; both highlight coherence and attentional set

What is the Stroop effect?

A cognitive phenomenon where naming the color of a word is hampered by the word's meaning. This effect demonstrates the interference of conflicting information in verbal tasks.

Automatic vs Controlled Processes: Quantitative

Automatic and controlled processes are fundamentally the same, automatic are just faster.

Automatic vs Controlled Processes: Qualitative

Automatic and controlled processes are fundamentally different. When processes become automatic the way in which we accomplish them changes.

Change Blindness: Flicker task

Experiment where you are repeatedly shown two nearly identical images and you have to try to spot the difference but will fail because we struggle to notice big changes during brief visual interruptions like eye movements or cuts.