Chapter 5: Attention

Cognitive Psych - Chapter 5 - Paying Attention

selective attention

a skill through which one focuses on one input/task while ignoring other stimuli

dichotic listening

different audio inputs presented to each ear via headphones

attended channel/input

listening input for dichotic listening

unattended channel/input

input to be ignored for dichotic listening

cocktail party effect

information from the unattended channel that can be noticed

example of the cocktail party effect

example: your name being called while you’re having a conversation with someone else

bottle-neck theory

numerous sensory inputs go it but get funneled down to the attended information

inattentional blindness

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

inattentional deafness

inability to hear things you’re not paying attention to

inattentional numbness

inability to feel things you’re not paying attention to

change blindness

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

early selection

only the attended input is analyzed and perceived while unattended where information receives little to no analysis

pathway for early selection

Sensory analysis —> Filter —> Semantic Analysis

late selection

all inputs are analyzed and selection occurs after analysis where only the attended input reaches consciousness

pathway for late selection

Sensory analysis —> semantic analysis —> filter

circumstance for early selection

electrical brain activity for attended inputs differes from activity for unattended inputs within 80 ms

circumstance for late selection

stimuli that are not attended to can nevertheless have effects on perception

repetition priming

stimulus-based where high-frequency or significant information is already primed

expectation-driven priming

the perceiver tries to anticipate the attended channel

limited-capacity system

expectation-driven priming requires some f our limited mental resources

spatial attention

mechanism through which someone focuses on a particular position in space

control system for attention

network of sites in frontal and parietal cortices

three parts of the control system

orienting, alerting, and executive

orienting system

disengage attention from one target, shift attention to a new target, then engage attention on the new target

alerting system

maintain alert state in the brain

executive system

control voluntary actions

factors that can influence attention

• interests

• importance

• visual prominence

• beliefs and expectations

• culture

Endogenous control of attention

you choose what to pay attention to

is endogenous control a bottom-up or top-down process?

top-down

exogenous control of attention

an element of the scene captures your attention whether you like it or not

is exogenous control a bottom-up or top-down process?

bottom-up

dorsal attention system

spatially defined bias in preparation for stimuli

ventral attention system

once presented, target object defines focus

divided attention

the skill of performing multiple tasks or inputs simultaneously

what affects how we multitask?

the limited cognitive resources we have

what helps make multitasking easier?

if the concurrent tasks are different from each other

Executive control allows us to

• control one’s thoughts

• keep goals in mind

• organize mental steps

• shift plans and change strategy

• inhibit automatic responses

What cortex is responsible for executive control?

prefrontal

Practiced skills require (fewer or more) cognitive resources

fewer

automaticity

tasks that are well practiced and require little to no executive control

tasks will _______ with each other if their combined demand for a resource is _____ than the amount of the resource that is available

interference ; greater

Some resources are task-______ and others are task-________

specific ; general