Psy 311: Attention
Attention
Attention is the process of concentrating on specific features of the environment or on certain thoughts or activities.
The Standard Model of the Mind: Perception Component
Figure illustrates the perception component within the standard model of the mind.
This model integrates different cognitive functions like declarative long-term memory, procedural long-term memory, working memory, perception, and motor functions.
Perception acts as a central gateway, interacting with working memory and long-term memory systems.
Taxonomy of Attention
Internal Attention
Refers to managing information within working memory or long-term memory.
Example: Calculating internally requires internal attention.
External Attention
Involves attending to objects or stimuli in the environment.
Inattentional Blindness
A phenomenon where individuals fail to notice an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight because their attention is focused elsewhere.
Example: A magic trick often relies on inattentional blindness, redirecting attention to hide key actions.
Attention Networks
There are three primary attention networks:
The Alerting Network
Function: Responsible for achieving and maintaining a state of high sensitivity to incoming stimuli; essentially, alerting to potential danger.
Neurotransmitter: Involved with norepinephrine.
Mechanism: Helps prepare the cognitive system to respond to, or attend to, stimuli.
The Orienting Network
Function: Coordinates attention with sensory inputs, enabling the selection of information from sensory input.
Measurement: Often assessed using cueing tasks, where a cue directs attention to a specific location or feature.
Involvement: Plays a critical role in daily activities requiring shifting attention, like searching for an object.
The Executive Attention Network
Function: Manages and resolves conflicts among responses and regulates overall cognitive processes, especially in demanding or novel situations.
Testing: Typically tested with tasks involving conflict, such as the Stroop task, which requires inhibiting a prepotent response.
Neurotransmitter: Associated with dopamine.
Impact: Important for higher-level cognitive functions and can impact cognitive abilities later in life.
Bottleneck Theories
Concept: Bottlenecks refer to limited processing streams in the cognitive system.
Bottleneck Theories: These theories explain how selection is made at these processing bottlenecks, as the system cannot process all incoming information simultaneously.
Research Method: Dichotic Listening Task: A common experimental procedure where different auditory messages are presented to each ear simultaneously. Participants are typically asked to