15 Questions
Why is attention needed?
limited capacity and to avoid being overwhelmed
Illusory conjunctions occur when attention is inhibited.
True
What captures our attention primarily based on contrast?
Color
The issue of how an object’s individual features are combined to create coherent percept is known as the _________ problem.
binding
Match the following attention-related terms with their descriptions:
Overt attention = Involves looking directly at an object Covert attention = Looking at one object but attending another Fixate = When someone looks at an object Saccades = Ballistic eye movements between fixations
What is the primary function of attention?
To preferentially process some of the stimulus at the cost of processing other parts
What is the term for the eye movements between fixations?
Saccades
What guides the subsequent voluntary process of attention?
Goals and expectations
What is the term for the quality of being noticeable?
Salience
What type of attention involves looking directly at an object?
Overt attention
What determines the duration and frequency of fixations?
Goals and expectations
What is the term for the process of combining individual features of an object to create a coherent percept?
Binding problem
What is the result of inhibiting attention in the feature integration theory?
Illusory conjunctions
What is the difference between conjunction search and feature search?
Conjunction search requires binding, while feature search does not
What is the phenomenon where people fail to notice changes in a scene?
Change blindness
Study Notes
Attention
- Attention is the preferential processing of some stimuli at the cost of processing others
- It helps to perceive the attended stimuli better than the rest of the objects
- Attention is necessary because our perceptual system has a limited capacity and cannot process everything in the visual scene simultaneously
Overt and Covert Attention
- Overt attention involves looking directly at an object
- Covert attention involves looking at one object but attending to another
Monitoring Attention
- We tend to fixate on the object to which we attend
- Fixation depends on goals and expectations
- Saccades are ballistic eye movements between fixations
- During saccades, we become temporarily blind
What Directs Attention?
- Two processes: initial involuntary process and subsequent voluntary process
- Initial involuntary process is mediated by attentional capture
- Subsequent voluntary process is guided by goals and expectations
Salience
- Salience is the quality of being noticeable
- High contrast, color, size, orientation, and motion capture our attention
Effects of Attention
- Attention speeds responses
- Attention influences appearance
- Attention influences physiological responding
The Binding Problem
- Different aspects of a stimulus are processed independently in separate brain areas
- The issue of how an object's individual features are combined to create a coherent percept is known as the binding problem
- Feature integration theory (FIT) suggests that attention solves the binding problem by processing only one location at a time
Illusory Conjunctions
- FIT predicts that if attention is inhibited, features from different objects will be incorrectly bound
- Illusory conjunctions occur when features from different objects are incorrectly bound
Balint's Syndrome
- A patient with parietal lobe damage experiences illusory conjunctions due to inability to focus attention on a single object
- Parietal lobe is responsible for directing attention
Visual Search
- Visual search is required for binding to occur
- Conjunction search requires binding to be solved and is predicted to be slow
- Feature search does not require binding to be solved and is predicted to be fast
Change Blindness
- Attention determines what we remember
- Change blindness occurs when we fail to notice changes in a scene due to lack of attention to the location of change
Attention
- Attention is the preferential processing of some stimuli at the cost of processing others
- It helps to perceive the attended stimuli better than the rest of the objects
- Attention is necessary because our perceptual system has a limited capacity and cannot process everything in the visual scene simultaneously
Overt and Covert Attention
- Overt attention involves looking directly at an object
- Covert attention involves looking at one object but attending to another
Monitoring Attention
- We tend to fixate on the object to which we attend
- Fixation depends on goals and expectations
- Saccades are ballistic eye movements between fixations
- During saccades, we become temporarily blind
What Directs Attention?
- Two processes: initial involuntary process and subsequent voluntary process
- Initial involuntary process is mediated by attentional capture
- Subsequent voluntary process is guided by goals and expectations
Salience
- Salience is the quality of being noticeable
- High contrast, color, size, orientation, and motion capture our attention
Effects of Attention
- Attention speeds responses
- Attention influences appearance
- Attention influences physiological responding
The Binding Problem
- Different aspects of a stimulus are processed independently in separate brain areas
- The issue of how an object's individual features are combined to create a coherent percept is known as the binding problem
- Feature integration theory (FIT) suggests that attention solves the binding problem by processing only one location at a time
Illusory Conjunctions
- FIT predicts that if attention is inhibited, features from different objects will be incorrectly bound
- Illusory conjunctions occur when features from different objects are incorrectly bound
Balint's Syndrome
- A patient with parietal lobe damage experiences illusory conjunctions due to inability to focus attention on a single object
- Parietal lobe is responsible for directing attention
Visual Search
- Visual search is required for binding to occur
- Conjunction search requires binding to be solved and is predicted to be slow
- Feature search does not require binding to be solved and is predicted to be fast
Change Blindness
- Attention determines what we remember
- Change blindness occurs when we fail to notice changes in a scene due to lack of attention to the location of change
This quiz covers the concept of attention in sensation and perception, including how it helps us focus on certain stimuli and process them better. It also explains why attention is necessary due to the limited capacity of our perceptual system.
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