0010 Attention Gaps (1/2)

What is selective attention?

The ability to focus on a specific aspect of experience while ignoring others

What famous demonstration shows the limits of selective attention (Simons & Chabris, 1999)?

Inattentional blindness: viewers counting basketball passes fail to notice a person in a gorilla suit walking through the scene

What is the cocktail party effect (Cherry, 1953)?

The ability to pick out and focus on one conversation at a noisy party — and to notice personally relevant stimuli, like one's name, from an unattended channel

In Broadbent's dichotic listening studies, what could participants report about the unattended ear?

Almost nothing except basic physical characteristics (e.g., whether the voice was male or female) — not the content

What is Broadbent's filter theory?

An early-selection model: a sensory filter blocks unattended inputs before they are analyzed for meaning

How did Treisman (1960) modify Broadbent's model?

Attenuation theory: the filter does not block unattended input entirely but weakens it, so it can still be processed if relevant

What evidence supports late-selection models?

Highly meaningful unattended stimuli (like one's own name) capture attention, suggesting unattended input is analyzed for meaning before selection

What is the Stroop effect?

Interference when a word's meaning conflicts with the response — e.g., naming the ink color of the word RED printed in blue is slow and error-prone

What brain area is especially active during the Stroop task, and what is its role?

The anterior cingulate cortex — involved in monitoring and resolving conflict

What is the attentional blink (Raymond et al., 1992)?

A brief period (~200–500 ms) after detecting a first target during which a second target in a rapid stream is likely to be missed

What is change blindness?

Failing to notice changes in a visual scene, even large ones, when attention is not focused on the changing object

In Simons & Levin's (1997) door study, how many people noticed the person they were talking to had been swapped?

Only about half noticed, despite the swap happening mid-conversation

What is exogenous (stimulus-driven) attention?

Attention captured automatically by salient external stimuli, such as a sudden loud noise or bright flash

What is endogenous (goal-directed) attention?

Voluntary, top-down allocation of attention guided by one's goals and intentions

In Posner's spatial cueing paradigm, what is the validity effect?

Faster responses to targets at cued locations than at uncued locations — attention was already there

What is the difference between overt and covert attention?

Overt attention involves moving the eyes toward the target; covert attention is shifting the mind's focus without moving the eyes

What is the psychological refractory period?

The delay in responding to a second of two closely spaced stimuli, reflecting a bottleneck in response selection

What did Pashler (1994) show about dual-task interference?

Interference is greatest at the response-selection stage — a central bottleneck — rather than in early perception