Lecture 22: Attention

Attention Definition

Focalization and limitation of information processing resources - Schmidt and Wrisberg (2004)

• 3-stage model of Information Processing

• Limited capacity system

Attention as a Single Resource

• Can do multiple things as long as it doesn’t exceed resource capacity

• Resource capacity → not fixed, can be expanded

• Known/learned tasks take up less room

Ulric Neisser (Attention as a Single Resource)

• New word shown every couple of seconds to participants; 15 words come with an adverse stimulus of an electroshock

• At the end of semester, participants came back → 75 new words and the same 15 “shock” words, but no shock administer

• Measured galvanic skin response

  • There was no conscious recognition of the shock words

  • Large galvanic response when the shock word was shown with no shock

• Attention doesn’t have to be conscious → involuntarily captured

Early Theory of Attention as a Single Resource

• Only one stimulus can enter the information processing system at a time → bottleneck after input

• Cocktail party phenomenon → lots of people; talking in one conversation; you know there are other conversations happening but you are focused on the one you’re in

Later Theory of Attention as a Single Resource

• Bottleneck occurs after stimulus identification before response selection

• Combination of parallel and serial processing

  • Parallel processing → process multiple stimuli at the same time

  • Serial processing → process one stimuli at a time

• Consider the PRP

Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) (Attention as a Single Resource)

• Stimulus 1 can get in but only after stimulus 1 is fully specified can stimulus 2 be processed → delay in second response

• Attentional system best described by late model (bottle neck occurs between stimulus identification and response selection)

• Delay in responding to the second of two stimuli presented in rapid succession

• Interference in selection and organization of response

• If inner stimulus interval between stimulus 1 and 2 is within 150ms → individual is in a state of psychological refractiveness (PR)

  • If it is beyond 150ms → no PR

Putting Practice to the Test (Leavitt, 1979) (Attention and Automaticity)

• 6 age groups (6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 19) performing in an experimental condition → skating only; skating and geometric figures; skating and stickhandling; skating, stickhandling, and geometric figures

• For 6 and 8 year olds → primary task of skating only deteriorated as a function of introducing a secondary task; skating is still attentionally demanding and need to devote significant amount of attention for skating

Attention and Coordination

• Inphase → performing a take where you have to flex and extend your fingers, right and left and the same time

• Antiphase → flexing right hand while extending left hand; as you try to move as quick as your can, gradually fall back into inphase

  • Some people can maintain antiphase → musicians

• Coordination and attentional demands associated with antiphase are so complex moving beyond 5 Hz → no longer can maintain antiphase pattern

  • Attentional system has a limited capacity in terms of temporal elements associated with coordination

Global Local Paradigm

• Globally letter H

• Locally letter H

Problem with Global Local Paradigm

• Globally letter S

• Locally letter H

• Where there is incongruency between global and local properties → problems

• When asked to report local properties in an incongruent situation betwee local and global features → really long reaction time

• Way to gauge attention systems in the neural correlates associated with our attentional system and the neural correlates associated with slip of attention

Neural Correlates of Attentional Slips

• Congruent and incongruent global and local features

  • Slip of Attention → longer reaction time reporting local property of an incongruent stimulus

• Cortical properties/systems active in a slip of attention → IFG, MFG, ACC (default attentional framework)

• Inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) → stimulus-triggered orientation of attention

• Middle frontal gyrus (MFG) → maintaining task goals in working memory

• Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) → conflict monitoring/resolution