Psychology Chapter on Attention and Arousal

A neuropsychological test used to diagnose neglect. In this test, patients are given a sheet of paper with many horizontal lines and are asked to bisect the lines precisely in the middle with a vertical line.

A condition caused by bilateral damage to regions of the posterior parietal and occipital cortex. People with this syndrome experience a severe disturbance of visual attention and awareness, in which only one or a small subset of available objects is perceived at any one time and objects are mislocalized in space.

A theory suggesting that we search for one feature (e.g., color, shape) at a time. This process is bottom-up.

A condition caused by damage to one hemisphere of the brain's attention network, usually due to a stroke. Individuals with this condition experience a bias in attention towards the right, resulting in a neglect of the left visual field.

The inability to perceive or act on stimuli presented on the side opposite to the brain lesion when presented simultaneously with a stimulus on the same side of the lesion. It is a common characteristic of neglect.

A sudden change in the environment, such as a loud noise, flash of light, or moving object, can automatically capture our attention. This is a bottom-up process.

Intentionally searching for something, like looking for a specific person in a crowd. This is a top-down process.

The intentional focus on specific stimuli, whether sensory phenomena or internal thoughts, for enhanced processing and analysis.

When the focus of our senses and attention are directed at the same target.

The ability to shift the focus of visual attention without moving the eyes.

The ability to focus on specific sounds while ignoring distractions.

The ability to focus on specific stimuli over a long period of time.

The voluntary direction of attention towards a specific stimulus, in accordance with interests and goals.

The involuntary shifting of attention toward the location of an unexpected stimulus.

A global physiological and psychological brain state.

Key characteristics of attention, such as the ability to voluntarily choose the focus of attention and the inability to attend to many things at once.

The state of being overwhelmed by more information than we can handle and comprehend at any given time.

The ability to focus on a specific piece of information while ignoring other information.

The idea that attention is influenced by the complexity of a task or stimulus.

The process of how experience changes how our brains handle information.

A region in the midbrain involved in directing eye movements, particularly for focused attention.

A part of the thalamus crucial for visual processing and filtering distractions.

A network of brain regions involved in top-down, deliberate control of attention.

A region in the parietal lobe involved in voluntary, top-down control of attention.

A part of the frontal lobe involved in controlling eye movements and directing gaze based on cognitive goals.

A network of brain regions responsible for bottom-up, reflexive attention.

The inability to focus and maintain attention, potentially linked to anatomical differences in the brain's white matter, particularly in the prefrontal cortex.

Brain regions become more active when focused on specific stimuli.

The fusiform face area (FFA) shows increased activity when focusing on faces, while the parahippocampal place area (PPA) becomes more active when focusing on houses, demonstrating how attention affects specific brain areas.

An electrical brainwave response (ERP) that is measured in the brain when an auditory stimulus is presented.

An electrical brainwave response (ERP) that reflects the brain's processing of a meaningful stimulus.

An electrical brainwave response (ERP) that occurs when a visual stimulus is presented.

A task where attention must be sustained on a single stimulus or location for a period of time.

A task where a symbolic cue (like an arrow) directs attention to a specific location.

A task similar to the symbolic cuing task, but a flash of light indicates the location to attend to.

The question of how the brain combines different features (color, shape, etc.) processed in different areas to create a complete perception of an object.