Attention Theories and Midterm Information

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Questions and Answers

What do bottleneck theories of attention suggest about our cognitive processing?

We have infinite capacity to attend to multiple stimuli at once.

All environmental information is processed equally.

We must filter out most of the environment due to capacity limitations. (correct)

Attention operates solely on emotional responses.

What is implied by early selection theories of attention?

Attention depends solely on the semantic meaning of stimuli.

Attention is universally directed towards the most emotionally charged stimuli.

Sensory systems filter information before higher processing occurs. (correct)

Filtering occurs at advanced stages of processing.

How are quiz grades affected in this course?

The lowest 4 quiz grades are dropped from consideration. (correct)

Students can retake quizzes to improve their scores.

All quiz grades are counted towards the final grade.

Only the highest quiz grades are kept for evaluation.

What happens if a student takes the quiz outside of class?

The student will not receive attendance credit. Signup and view all the answers

What concept explains the influence of task rules on attention redirecting?

Internal attention Signup and view all the answers

Which type of attention is characterized as 'top-down'?

Goal-directed attention Signup and view all the answers

How does attention to location affect memory?

It improves memory for location-related details. Signup and view all the answers

What phenomenon is described by hearing one’s own name pulling attention to an unattended ear?

Dichotic listening Signup and view all the answers

What effect does an erotic image have on attention in the context of Jiang et al.'s research?

It pulls attention to the same side as the image. Signup and view all the answers

What does the Attention Schema Theory of Consciousness imply?

Attention impacts the nature of conscious experience. Signup and view all the answers

What is one implication of the relationship between attention and consciousness?

Unattended information can become consciously aware. Signup and view all the answers

What role does working memory play in attention?

It determines which information to maintain or discard. Signup and view all the answers

What does the Selection-for-action theory suggest about mental capacity?

Mental capacity is too large, leading to interference. Signup and view all the answers

What is the main purpose of attention in the Feature Integration Theory?

To bind multiple features of a stimulus together. Signup and view all the answers

What phenomenon occurs when unattended features combine incorrectly?

Illusory conjunctions. Signup and view all the answers

What does Treisman’s filtering theory suggest about unattended features?

They are not fully filtered out but attenuated. Signup and view all the answers

What does change blindness illustrate about human perception?

We often overestimate our awareness of surroundings. Signup and view all the answers

Which type of attention involves focusing on specific features like colors?

Visual feature attention. Signup and view all the answers

In a dichotic listening experiment, what scenario describes a typical outcome?

Participants report information from unattended stimuli. Signup and view all the answers

What is suggested by the external attentional filters mentioned?

Attention can be modality-specific. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Quiz Policies

Quiz answers must be original work; do not discuss answers with others before class.
Students can consult readings during quizzes if needed.
Students can take quizzes even if not in class, but won't receive attendance credit.
The lowest four quiz grades will be dropped.

Midterm Information

Midterm grades are available online.
Median score: 41/48 = 85%.
Students can contact their TA to review specific questions.
Paper #2 proposal is due on November 7th.

Class Schedule

No class on Monday, November 4th.
Next class is on Wednesday, November 6th.

Attention: Introduction

Questions raised:
- Why is attention needed?
- How is attention directed?

Attention Theories: Bottleneck

Bottleneck Theories: Parts of the mind have limited capacity, requiring filtering of environmental information.
Example: Face processing system only works on one face at a time; necessitates selective attention.
Early vs. Late Selection Theories: Do filters occur early (sensory level) or later (semantic level)?

Attention Theories: Selection for Action

Bottleneck isn't about small capacity, but large amounts of information.
Processing everything causes confusion and poor response to specific stimuli.

Attention Theories: Feature Integration Theory

Feature Integration Theory (Treisman): Attention is needed to combine features of a stimulus.
Without attention, distinct features of a stimulus become jumbled in working memory.
Anne Treisman is associated with this theory.
Treisman and Gelade (1980) provide supporting visual examples. Showing how attention helps combine features that are combined in the mind. Illusory conjunctions (e.g., "large unfilled red circle") illustrate the need for focused attention.

Attention and Search Example

Demonstrates a visual search task (finding a "dog" in a matrix of letters).

Attention: Finding a Snake

A visual search task, highlighting how mental attention works on finding shapes amidst a similar pattern of objects.

Attention: Dichotic Listening

Dichotic listening experiments (Gray & Wedderburn, 1960) demonstrate that unattended information is not fully filtered out, but attenuated.
Participants report "Mice Eat Cheese" even when the stimuli from the right ear is attended too. That shows that the processing from the left ear is processed but not entirely dropped.

Attention and Change Blindness

Change blindness (Simons & Levin, 1998): shows attention's limitations, as participants often don't notice significant changes in a visual scene.

Taxonomy of Attention: External

A taxonomy (classification) divides attention into categories like features, spatial location, Sensory Modality and time points.

Attention: External (Different Types)

Different categories of attention. Example: visual vs. auditory attention, spatial attention, visual feature attention (colors, shapes), visual object attention (familiar faces), auditory feature attention.

Taxonomy of Attention: Internal

Internal attention is categorized into task rules, responses, working memory and long-term memory.

Attending Internally

Task rules: time taken to redirect attention to new tasks.
Long-term memory: selecting relevant memories, lessening the influence of irrelevant ones.
Working memory: choosing what to keep and discard from memories.

Attention: Priming and Memory

Location priming leads to enhanced memory of location-related details (De Soares et al., 2024).

Stimulus-driven vs. Goal-directed Attention

Attention is both goal-driven and stimulus-driven.
Posner cueing demonstrates stimulus-driven attention.
Other examples (e.g., hearing your name during divided attention tasks like dictotic listening), unconscious presentation of erotic images that affect later tasks (e.g., a tilt judgement, which can affect responses). These show attention being drawn by stimuli rather than deliberate choices (e.g., a goal-directed attention).

Attention and Consciousness

Attention isn't the same as consciousness, but there's a relationship debated between them
Is attention necessary for conscious awareness?
Can attention change the character of conscious experience (e.g., "green needle" vs. "brainstorm")?

Attention Schema Theory

Attention schema theory (Graziano): Effective control of attention relies on an internal model (schema).
Attention can exist without awareness if the internal model is not perfect, so the actions are less controlled and predictable.

Exploiting Attention: Magic

Examples demonstrating how magicians use attentional limitations to gain advantage.

Attention Theory of Cinematic Continuity

Editing techniques facilitate attentional shifts across cuts in movies.

Summarizing Attention

Different theories explain attention limitations but disagree on the causes.
Attention is influenced by external or internal factors
There is debate about whether attention correlates identically with consciousness.

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Description

This quiz covers the concepts of attention needed in psychology, specifically focusing on bottleneck theories and selective attention. Additionally, it includes important policies regarding quizzes and midterm information relevant to the course schedule. Prepare to understand how attention functions as well as key administrative details.