Attention, Thought Processes and Decision Making
Attention, Thought Processes and Decision Making
Learning Objectives
Basics of Attention
Understand and apply the following concepts:
Cocktail party phenomenon: The ability to focus attention on a particular stimulus while ignoring others, demonstrating the selective nature of attention.
Inattentional blindness: Failing to notice an unexpected stimulus due to attentional focus on another task.
Change blindness: Inability to detect large changes in a visual scene when they occur during a brief interruption.
Attention models: Various theoretical frameworks that explain how attention operates.
Divided attention: The phenomenon where attention is split between multiple stimuli or tasks.
Schemas and Scripts
Understand the structure and function of schemas and scripts:
How they assist cognition.
Potential errors they may cause in cognition.
Categorization
Define fundamental concepts:
What is categorization? The cognitive process of grouping objects, ideas, or events based on shared characteristics.
Concept: A mental representation used for categorization, can be both well-defined and ill-defined based on clarity of features.
How do we categorize? Using defining features, prototypes, and exemplars.
Levels of categorization: Basic, superordinate, and subordinate levels, which differ based on individual experience.
Decision-Making Processes
Explain differences between “Type I” (intuitive, fast) and “Type II” (analytical, slow) decision-making.
Six main steps of rational decision making:
Define the problem.
Identify criteria for evaluation.
Weight criteria in terms of importance.
Generate options.
Evaluate all options using established criteria.
Choose the option with the best ranked score.
Reasoning: Importance and types; Inductive, Deductive, and Analogical.
Cognitive Bias: Various biases influencing decision making, including framing, anchoring, overconfidence, and emotion.
Heuristics: Rapid judgement processes, their importance, and potential pitfalls including availability and representativeness heuristics.
Attention
Definition: Attention refers to the capacity to selectively bring specific stimuli or cognitions into conscious awareness while ignoring others.
Roles of Attention:
Maintain alertness
Orient toward relevant information
Control behaviors and contents of consciousness
Nature of Attention:
Both automatic and goal-oriented. Our internal goals determine what we attend to, while salient or startling stimuli capture our attention automatically.
Cocktail Party Phenomenon
A classic demonstration of selective attention: individuals can focus on a single conversation while filtering out other auditory stimuli, but they still unconsciously process stimuli around them.
Attention Models
Early Filter Model (Broadbent, 1958)
Suggests attention functions as a filter that selectively processes information.
Flow of information:
Input → Sensory → Filter → Perceptual Meaning Analysis → Short Term Memory (STM)/Awareness.
Late Filter Model (Deutsch & Deutsch, 1963)
Proposes that all inputs are processed to some degree before filtering occurs.
Attenuation Model (Treisman, 1960)
Suggests unattended information is attenuated or reduced but not completely eliminated.
Divided Attention
Definition: The ability to split attention between multiple stimuli or tasks.
Example: Talking on a cell phone while driving.
The brain tends to automate one task to lower-order consciousness, allowing focus on higher-order tasks, with practice potentially enhancing this ability.
Inattentional Blindness
Definition: A phenomenon where individuals fail to notice unexpected stimuli in their environment due to focused attention.
Key point: Individuals may overlook critical information that would normally demand attention.
Change Blindness
Definition: The failure to notice significant changes in a visual scene occurring during a brief interruption.
Example: Card trick or the “door study” illustrates the difficulty in noticing large changes.
Categorization
Definition: The process of grouping based on shared characteristics, recognizing similarities and differences.
A concept serves as the primary mental representation of such categories.
Categorization occurs both consciously and subconsciously, aiding in efficient cognitive processing.
How We Categorize
Defining Features: Traits common across all instances within a category.
Well-defined concepts exhibit clear defining features (e.g., dictionary definitions).
Prototypes:
Abstract representation that encompasses the most common features of a category.
Categorization involves assessing an object’s similarity to this prototype.
Exemplars:
Specific instances that serve as ideal representations of categories based on personal experiences.
Similarity to an exemplar informs categorization decisions.
Hierarchical Categorization
Individuals tend to use the broadest, most inclusive levels of category when making distinctions.
Basic Level: Most common categorization level, dictates shared attributes that distinguish a concept.
Subordinate and superordinate levels exist, varying by culture and expertise.
Schema and Scripts
Schemas: Structured frameworks that enhance predictability in environments, enabling quick processing of familiar stimuli.
Serve as memory aids by activating related nodes when recalling information, sometimes leading to false memories.
Famous Schema Experiment (Brewer & Treyens, 1981)
Procedure: Participants in an office scenario were asked to remember items from the room.
Findings:
Participants recalled consistent items (like a desk) that fit the office schema.
They often falsely remembered items that belong to office schemas but weren’t present (like books).
Surprisingly, incongruent items (like a skull) were also remembered due to their unexpected nature.
Scripts: Behavioral schemas that guide actions in novel situations, facilitating appropriate responses without prior experience.
Decision-Making
Motivated by the need for reasoning to solve problems while balancing efficiency and cognitive resources.
Rational Decision-Making Steps
Define the problem.
Identify evaluation criteria.
Weight criteria.
Generate options.
Evaluate options based on criteria from steps 2-3.
Select the best option based on rankings.
Reasoning
Definition: The process of formulating and assessing beliefs and solutions.
Three main types identified:
Inductive Reasoning: Drawing generalizations from specific observations (e.g., assuming all pit bulls are mean based on personal experiences).
Deductive Reasoning: Logic-based conclusions drawn from general statements (e.g., all poodles are smart; George is a poodle; therefore, George is smart).
Analogical Reasoning: Understanding new situations through comparison to familiar ones (e.g., comparing classes to optimize learning).
Cognitive Bias in Decision Making
Framing Effects: Decision outcomes can vary based on how choices are presented (e.g., gains versus losses).
Anchoring: Initial information serves as a reference point for evaluating additional information.
Overconfidence, Delay Discounting, Bounded willpower: These biases can skew rational decision-making.
Heuristics
Definition: Informal rules or mental shortcuts aiding quick decision-making with minimal cognitive load.
Utilize heuristics to streamline cognition, facilitate rapid decisions, but be mindful of their potential pitfalls.
Availability Heuristic
Definition: Relying on readily accessible information when making judgments.
Examples: Judging the frequency of events based on ease of recall (e.g., fear of flying after hearing about a plane crash).
Representative Heuristic
Definition: Assessing probabilities based on how well an example fits a category or prototype.
Issues arise by ignoring base rate information, which can lead to inaccurate judgments.