Role of Attention in Memory

what does attention determine and do?

it determines what information is allowed into our memory system, influences how its stored and provides cues for its retrieval. strong attention on details enhances our ability to remember and recall information effectively

what is encoding?

• encoding is the process of transforming sensory information into a form that the brain can use and store

• involves taking in specific information, process it and convert to neural code that can store it into memory and attention to specific details enhances encoding process

what are the 4 types of encoding

what is retrieval?

• is the process of assesing and recalling stored information from memopry when needed

• bringing back into concious awarness

• attention helps in searching and selecting the relevant cues that trigger the recall of specific stored info

attentions benifits to memory

1. encoding - acts as a filter , determining what info gets processed and encoded

2. selective processing - helps select relevant info while ignoring distractions

3. memory consolidation - process where memory stabilizes and becomes more robust. strong attention during learning can strengthen neural connections associated with that memory, retaining it.

4. retrieval cues - what we pay attention too can become retrieval cues

5. reducing inteference - irrelevant info is ignored, as attention directs us towards relevant details and decreases forgetting chances

what is sustained attention? (type of attention)

ability to focus on none specific task for a continuous amount of time with no distractions. this is crucial for encoding detailed info

what is selective attention? (type of attention)

ability to select from many factors or stimuli and to focus on one while filtering out distractions. more likely to be encoded into memory

what is alternating attention? (type of attention)

ability to switch you focus back and forth between tasks that require different cognitive demands. helps manage cognitive resources for encoding

what is divided attention? (type of attention)

ability to process two or more responses or react to two or more diferent demands simultaneously. this reduces effectiveness of memory encoding

what is the cocktail party effect? (Colin Cherry 1953)

refers to the remarkable human ability to focus on a single conversation or voice while filtering out other backround noises in a crowded and noisy environment

describe the main experiment Cherry performed

participants wore headphones and heard two voices simulatneously and was asked to pay attention to one voice. particpants were able to selectively attend and comprehend the content of the instructed voice, while disgarding the other

what was the aim, sample, independent variable and dependent variable in the experiment?

• Aim - The study investigated how individuals selectively focus on and process auditory information in environments with competing messages, demonstrating the cocktail party effect.

• Sample - The participants were adults with normal hearing and no known auditory impairments, though specific demographic details were not provided.

• IV (Independent Variable) - The independent variable was the content of the auditory messages, which varied in language, pitch, and meaning to assess selective attention.

• DV (Dependent Variable) - The dependent variable was the participants' ability to focus on and recall details from one auditory message while ignoring another.

describe the extra experiment done by Cherry

a task in which there are two auditory messages, one of which has to be repeated back aloud or shadowed. they rarely nopticed the unattended one unless physical changed happened.

ways humans in conversation can seperate voice from the suuroundings

direction from where it comes from, body language, difference speaking voices, accent difference and transition probabilities

what did Cherry conclude?

• the ability to selectively attend to one specific stimulus while filtering out the rest is one of the brains remarkable capacity for selective auditory attention

• supresses competing stimuli

• cocktail party effect demostrates this mechanism by selecting what is most important at a given moment

• allopws us to engage in meaningful conversations while disregarding distracting backround stimuli

which attention does the cocktail party demonstrate?

it shows the ability of selective attention, highlighting our ability to tune into personally relevant auditry stimuli in a noisy environment