Psychology of Attention
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Psychology of Attention

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Questions and Answers

What is a key characteristic of structural theories regarding attention?

  • They propose that some neural structures can only handle one stimulus at a time. (correct)
  • They focus on the limited capacity for neural activation.
  • They emphasize the flexibility of resource allocation in tasks.
  • They suggest that attention is unlimited.

    • How does capacity theory differ from structural theories in terms of task performance?

  • Capacity theory states that attention is randomly distributed amongst tasks.
  • Capacity theory allows for flexible allocation of resources to simultaneous tasks. (correct)
  • Capacity theory suggests that attention remains consistent regardless of task difficulty.
  • Capacity theory implies that all tasks require equal mental effort.

    • According to the findings of Strayer and Johnston, what effect does using a mobile phone while driving have on performance?

  • It helps drivers maintain better focus on the road.
  • It enhances the ability to process driving-related stimuli.
  • It interferes with driving by sharing capacity, reducing accuracy and increasing reaction time. (correct)
  • It has no measurable effect on driving performance.

    • What best describes the impact of central task load on dual task performance according to Li et al. (2002)?

    <p>Difficult tasks are substantially more affected by central load than easier tasks.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What concept does the study by Cartwright-Finch & Lavie (2007) illustrate regarding inattentional blindness?

    <p>It highlights that the allocation of attention can blind individuals to certain stimuli.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the term 'cost of divided attention' refer to in Moray's study?

    <p>The reduction in performance when attending to multiple stimuli</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the context of shadowing tasks, what is the main goal?

    <p>To measure selective attention and filtering ability</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the term 'exclusive OR (XOR)' imply in attention studies?

    <p>Only one target can be monitored at a time</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to Moray's study, how does late selection predict outcomes in attention tasks?

    <p>It argues that all stimuli are processed for meaning before selection</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the implication of 'AND trials' in the context of simultaneous target detection?

    <p>Simultaneous targets will compete for attentional resources</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Moray's study suggest about early selection theory?

    <p>It fails to explain why stimulation filtering does not depend on stimulus identity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why is there a moderate cost of divided attention in the study's findings?

    <p>Attentional resources are depleted when monitoring multiple channels</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does 'inclusive OR (IOR)' mean in terms of attentional processing?

    <p>Both channels can be attended simultaneously with possible targets</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary difference between the endogenous and exogenous orienting systems?

    <p>Endogenous is affected by memory load, whereas exogenous is not.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What phenomenon is observed only with peripheral cues, according to the provided content?

    <p>Inhibition of Return</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does the voluntary orienting system respond to cognitive load compared to the reflexive orienting system?

    <p>Voluntary orienting is slower under cognitive load, but reflexive is unaffected.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the ecological purpose of Inhibition of Return?

    <p>To allow efficient search of complex environments.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which factor differentiates the effects of the two orienting systems regarding reaction time and duration?

    <p>Voluntary is slower and more sustained than reflexive, which is faster and transient.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the shape of the trade-off curve indicate in dual task paradigms?

    <p>Capacity demands of tasks</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is a major shortcoming of capacity theory?

    <p>It can be too vague to apply to specific situations</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the context of dual tasks, what is 'graceful degradation'?

    <p>Diminishing performance as capacity decreases</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Bonnel & Hafter (1998) find about easy vs. difficult tasks?

    <p>Difficult tasks can trade off with easy ones</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the capacity theory emphasize regarding attention?

    <p>Divided attention and flexibility of attentional control</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was one of the first focuses of attention research in the 1980s?

    <p>Auditory systems and eye movements</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What capacity theory aspect can be refined using decision-making theories?

    <p>The mathematical precision of capacity theories</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary benefit of capacity theory in psychological research?

    <p>It promotes understanding of attentional flexibility</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is meant by 'covert' attention?

    <p>Attention that occurs independently of eye movements.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the Posner model, what does the 'spotlight of attention' represent?

    <p>The limited capacity to process multiple stimuli at once.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the Spatial Cuing Paradigm primarily measure?

    <p>Attention shifts and reaction times.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the expected outcome in a cued (valid) trial of the Spatial Cuing Paradigm?

    <p>Faster reaction time as the stimulus occurs at the attended location.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What typically happens during an invalidly cued trial?

    <p>Participants experience slower reaction times.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are the potential causes of the costs and benefits observed in cuing effects?

    <p>Switching time and unequal capacity allocation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which type of system is involved in top-down attentional control?

    <p>Conscious decision-making processes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What kind of attentional control is referred to as bottom-up?

    <p>Attention that is captured by external stimuli.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What deficit might clinical patients show concerning attention?

    <p>Failure to focus or disengage attention.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement best describes the relationship between eye movements and attention shifts?

    <p>Attention shifts can happen without eye movements.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Indirect Measures of Attention

    • Early Selection: Weak semantic activation on unattended channel
    • Late Selection: Brief semantic activation on unattended channel
    • Some phenomena not predicted by either early or late selection theory.
    • Shadowing tasks investigate attentional filtering.

    Cost of Divided Attention

    • Auditory signal detection: Pure tone stimuli.
    • Selective: Monitor for targets on one channel only.
    • Exclusive OR (XOR): Monitor both channels, no simultaneous targets.
    • Inclusive OR (IOR): Monitor both channels, simultaneous targets possible.
    • Compare simultaneous targets (AND trials) and nonsimultaneous (OR trials).
    • Moderate cost of divided attention (OR < SEL).
    • Large cost of simultaneous detection (AND < OR).

    Implications of the Moray Study

    • Early Selection: Predicts OR < SEL because there is attenuation with divided attention. Doesn't predict AND < OR because attenuation shouldn't depend on the identity of the stimulus. Target/nontarget distinction is made in a limited-capacity system, so if filtering occurs before this, the distinction shouldn't matter.
    • Late Selection: Predicts AND < OR because two simultaneous targets will both be selected by "pertinence" and compete to get through the filter. Doesn't predict OR < SEL because if there aren't two targets, expect no competition.

    Structural and Capacity Theories

    • Two ways attention can limit performance: Structural and capacity.
    • Structural Theories: Some neural structures can only deal with one stimulus at a time. Competition produces processing "bottleneck"
    • Capacity Theories: Information processing is mental work. Work requires activation of neural structure. Limited capacity to activate structure.

    Capacity Theory

    • Reduction of capacity produces deficit in divided attention tasks.
    • Differs from structural theories because capacity can be allocated flexibly to simultaneous tasks.

    Interfering Effects of Divided Attention

    • Talking on a mobile phone interferes with driving. Sharing capacity reduces accuracy and increases reaction time.

    Dual Task Performance

    • Attention demanding central task (letters same or different?).
    • Easy or hard peripheral task (animal present or disk phase?).
    • Difficult task is much more affected by central load.

    Capacity Theory Explains "Inattentional Blindness"

    • Demanding a central task uses all available capacity.
    • Clearly visible square is not detected.
    • Which arm of flashed cross is longer?

    Study Capacity by Dual Task Trade-Offs

    • Attention operating characteristic
    • Vary proportion of attention allocated to two tasks in a dual task paradigm.
    • "Graceful degradation" of performance as available capacity is reduced.
    • Shape of trade-off curve tells about capacity demands of task.

    Auditory and Visual Dual Tasks

    • Easy auditory and visual tasks (detecting spot of light or tone): Triangles.
    • Difficult auditory and visual tasks (discriminating increases from decreases in intensity of spot or tone): Trade off.
    • Different capacity demands.

    Pros and Cons of Capacity Theory

    • Value of capacity theory is new experiments it led to.
    • Emphasizes divided attention and flexibility of attentional control.
    • Shortcoming is its vagueness. Can always come up with a capacity explanation.
    • Can make capacity theories mathematically precise using decision-making theories.

    Attentional Orienting

    • First work on attention looked at auditory system.
    • Problem of eye movements: Natural environment movement in peripheral vision produces saccadic eye movement, greater visual acuity in foveal vision.
    • Not interested in eye movement but shifts of attention independent of eye movements.
    • Attention shifts precede eye movements and can occur without them.
    • Shifts of attention called attentional orienting.

    Posner: The "Spotlight of Attention"

    • Shifts of attention likened to moving spotlight.
    • Selective enhancement for stimuli "illuminated by the beam".
    • Expresses selective, limited-capacity idea in spatial terms.

    Studying the Spotlight of Attention

    • Spatial Cuing Paradigm: Attract attention to A, present stimulus at A or B, compare performance.

    Spatial Cuing Paradigm

    • Fixation field: Maintain central fixation throughout trial.
    • Cue field: Wait for specified SOA (stimulus onset asynchrony).
    • Stimulus field: Uninformative cue (50% left, 50% right). Baseline to compare valid and invalid.

    Attentional Costs and Benefits

    • Benefits: Faster RT with valid cue.
    • Costs: Slower RT with invalid cued.
    • Very flexible: Can be used with RT or accuracy, and to compare all kinds of stimuli.

    Causes of Cuing Effects

    • Costs and benefits can be due to: Switching time, time to move the spotlight, unequal capacity allocation.
    • Hard to test between these alternatives.

    Attentional Orienting

    • Shifts in attention can be top-down (decide to shift attention) or bottom-up (something captures attention).
    • Need both kinds of systems to function.
    • Clinical patients show deficits of both kinds.
    • Two attentional control systems?

    How Many Orienting Systems?

    • Endogenous: Voluntary.
    • Exogenous: Reflexive.
    • Two systems engaged by different kinds of cues.
    • One is cognitive (need to interpret), the other is direct, spatial (no need to interpret).
    • Have different properties.

    Evidence for Separate Orienting Systems

    • Different time course of central and peripheral cuing: Peripheral effect peaks rapidly, central effect peaks slowly.
    • Different effects of load: Voluntary orienting slowed by memory load; reflexive orienting is not. Suggests different capacity demands of two systems.
    • Inhibition of Return: Found only with peripheral cues, not with central cues.

    What's the Purpose of Inhibition of Return?

    • Allows efficient search of a complex environment.
    • Prevents repeated search of the same location.

    Attentional Orienting Experiments

    • Multiple sources of evidence for two systems: Effects of SOA and cue type, affected differently by load, reflexive shows inhibition of return, voluntary doesn't.
    • Combination of bottom-up and top-down control. Need to be able to focus attention, exclude irrelevant stimuli; also to respond to unexpected threats.

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    PSY20007 Week 6 Attention - Part 3 & 4 PDF

    Description

    Test your knowledge on indirect measures of attention, including early and late selection theories. Explore the costs of divided attention and implications from the Moray study related to auditory signal detection. This quiz examines key concepts and theories in cognitive psychology.

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