Chapter 4 - Attention

Attention

the ability to focus on specific stimuli or locations

Selective attention

attending to one thing while ignoring others

Distraction

one stimulus interfering with the processing of another stimulus

Divided attention

paying attention to more than one thing at a time

Attentional capture

a rapid shifting of attention usually caused by a stimulus such as a loud noise, bright light, or sudden movement

Visual scanning

movements of the eyes from one location to another

William James

He proposed that the definition of attention implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others

Filter model of attention

By Broadbent;

designed to explain the results of an experiment done by Colin Cherry

dichotic listening

A technique used by Cherry to study attention;

Refers to presenting different stimuli to the left and right ears

shadowing

the procedure of repeating words as they are heard

Cocktail party effect

The ability to focus on one stimulus while filtering out other stimuli

Donald Broadbent

he created a model of attention designed to explain how it is possible to focus on one message and why information isn’t taken in from the other message

sensory memory

According to Broadbent’s model, ______ holds all incoming information for a fraction of a second and then transfers all of it to the filter

filter

identifies the message that is being attended to based on its physical characteristics—things like the speaker’s tone of voice, pitch, speed of talking, and accent—and lets only this attended message pass through the detector in the next stage

detector

processes the information from the attended message to determine higher-level characteristics of the message, such as its meaning

Short-term memory

The output of the detector is sent to ________ which holds information for 10-15 seconds and also transfers information into long-term memory

Long-term memory

can hold information indefinitely

early selection model

Broadbent’s model is called _________ because the filter eliminates the unattended information right at the beginning of the flow of information

attenuator

In Treisman’s model, this replaced Broadbent’s “filter”

analyzes the incoming message in terms of (1) its physical characteristics—whether it is high-pitched or low-pitched, fast or slow; (2) its language—how the message groups into syllables or words; and (3) its meaning—how sequences of words create meaningful phrases;

This represents a process and is not identified with a specific brain structure

Anne Treisman

She proposed a modification of Broadbent’s model

Attenuation model of attention

Treisman’s model that modifies Broadbent’s model is called ________

Has been called a “leaky filter” model because some unattended message gets through the attenuator

dictionary unit

contains words, stored in memory, each of which has a threshold (the smallest signal strength that can barely be detected) for being activated

Late selection models of attention

proposed that most of the incoming information is processed to the level of meaning before the message to be further processed is selected

processing capacity

refers to the amount of information people can handle and sets a limit on their ability to process incoming information

perceptual load

is related to the difficulty of a task

Low-load tasks

Tasks that are easy and well-practiced;

Use up only a small amount of the person’s processing capacity

high-load tasks

tasks that are difficult and perhaps not as well practiced;

Use more of a person’s processing capacity

load theory of attention

shows the role of processing capacity and perceptual load in determining distraction

Stroop effect

Occurs when the names of the words cause a competing response and therefore slow responding to the target

central vision

The area that you are looking at

Peripheral vision

everything off to the side

fovea

objects in central vision fall on a small area called _______, which has much better detail vision than the peripheral retina

fixation

The moment when you briefly pause at an object or face when scanning a scene

saccadic eye movement

a rapid, jerky movement from one fixation to the next

overt attention

shifting attention from one place to another by moving the eyes

Stimulus salience

the physical properties of the stimulus, such as color, contrast, or movement, that can influence attention

A bottom-up process

saliency map

scanning a scene typically involves analyzing characteristics such as color, orientation, and intensity at each location in the scene and then combining these values to create a ________

Scene schemas

an observer’s knowledge about what is contained in typical scenes;

A top-down processing happens when scanning is influenced by this

”just in time” strategy

Eye movements occur just before we need the information they will provide

covert attention

shifting attention while keeping the eyes still;

This type of attending involves shifting attention “with the mind”

Precueing

the general principle behind this experiment is to determine whether presenting a cue indicating where a test stimulus will appear enhances the processing of the target stimulus

same-object advantage

the faster responding that occurs when enhancement spreads within an object is called

Attentional warping

the map of categories on the brain changes so more spaces is allotted to categories that are being searched for, and this effect occurs even when the attended category isn’t present

automatic processing

a type of processing that occurs (1) without intention (it happens automatically without the person intending to do it) and (2) at a cost of only some of a person’s cognitive resources

Operant conditioning

a type of learning named by behaviorist B.F. Skinner in which behavior is controlled by rewards (called reinforcements) that follow behaviors

Mind wandering

thoughts coming from within;

Also been called daydreaming

inattentional blindness

illustrates how we can miss things even if they are clearly visible;

Occurs when people are unaware of clearly visible stimuli if they aren’t directing their attention to them

visual search

involves scanning a scene to find a specific object

inattentional deafness

focusing on a difficult visual task results in impaired hearing

change detection

a procedure in which one picture is presented followed by another picture, and the task is to determine what the difference is between them

Change blindness

this difficulty in detecting changes in scenes is called ________

binding

the process by which features such as color, form, motion, and location are combined to create our perception of a coherent object

binding problem

how an object’s individual features become bound together

feature integration theory

by Anne Treisman;

Addressed the binding problem

preattentive stage

occurs before we focus attention on an object;

Since attention is not involved, this stage is automatic, unconscious, and effortless

Focused attention stage

In this stage of processing, attention is focused on an object and the independent features are combined

illusory conjunctions

a perceptual effect in which one object can take on properties of another object;

Can occur even if the stimuli differ greatly in shape and size

Balint’s syndrome

is an inability to focus attention on individual objects

conjunction search

a search for a combination of two or more features in the same stimulus

ventral attention network

A network that controls attention based on salience

Dorsal attention network

A network that controls attention based on top-down processes

Effective connectivity

refers to how easily activity can travel along a particular pathway

executive attention network

In addition to the ventral and dorsal attention networks, another network has been proposed and this network is extremely complex and may involve two separate networks

executive functions

include a range of processes that involve controlling attention and dealing with conflicting responses

Example: stroop test

cognitive control; inhibitory control; willpower

dealing with conflict in everyday life has been called a number of things