Attention PDF

Attention Ch.5 Attention What is attention? Do I know what I am attending to? Can I multitask? How can I best use my attention?  What is attention? How does the brain manage perceptions?  Attention the brain’s ability to select which sensory stimuli to discard and which to...

Attention Ch.5 Attention What is attention? Do I know what I am attending to? Can I multitask? How can I best use my attention?  What is attention? How does the brain manage perceptions?  Attention the brain’s ability to select which sensory stimuli to discard and which to pass along to higher levels for processing. Spotlight (metaphor for) Attention Prepares us to encode/process info Attention is gradient Clearest at focal point and diminishes outward We can direct attention away from our fixation (focus) point Moving spotlight takes time, but… Unlike a spotlight, attention can ‘jump’ from one point to another  Attention as a Spotlight Orienting system Disengage attention from one target  shift attention to a new target  engage attention on the new target Alerting system Maintain alert state in the brain Together form the Executive system “control system” Control voluntary actions for attention 6 Attention as a Spotlight 7  Selective Attention Is Perception in the eye of the beholder? Change in Attention Change in eye movements.  Eye Movements are NOT Attention Eye movements Around 180 ms Attention shifts FASTER than the eye As early as 150 ms  Eye-Tracking gives us a clue to Attention Eye movements direct our attention to areas of a scene that contain the most information Fixations – instances when the eye has paused at a point Saccades –movement of the eye from one fixation to another Eye-Tracking gives us a clue to Attention Factors influencing what people attend to: Interests Importance Visual prominence Beliefs and expectations Culture Characteristics of Attention Limited in Capacity and Resources The world is complex We are able to handle multiple simultaneous inputs (kinda) We are bad at multitasking Is NOT the same as awareness You are able to process unconscious info Attention takes time! Attentional demands vary based on Task Experience (practice) Characteristics of Attention Limited in Capacity and Resources The world is complex We are able to handle multiple simultaneous inputs (kinda) We are bad at multitasking  Change blindness Change blindness - You are actively engaged in your attention, but because of a disruption (i.e. change in attention, such as due to brief distraction), you fail to notice a significant change to what you were attending to  Inattentional blindness Inattentional blindness - You are actively engaged in your attention, so much so that you fail to notice the existence of something unexpected No disruption necessary  Inattentional blindness Inattentional blindness suggests there is: “No perception without attention” This is how you missed the gorilla! Also Innattention deafness  Inattentional Vs. Change Blindness Similarities: Both are failures of awareness. In each case, we fail to notice something that is clearly visible once we know to look for it. Differences: Change blindness is the failure to notice an obvious change. You don’t notice something has changed The spy is now the waiter…and is escaping Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice the existence of an unexpected item. Something is there that you don’t see Hiding in plain sight. Characteristics of Attention Limited in Capacity and Resources The world is complex We are able to handle multiple simultaneous inputs (kinda) We are bad at multitasking Limited in Capacity and Resources We are bad at multitasking  Limited in Capacity and Resources Divided attention -refers to the skill of performing multiple tasks simultaneously. Aka: Multitasking We are bad at this We have limited resources  Central executive (Pre-Frontal lobe) Visuospatial buffer (Visualspatial sketchpad) Right hemisphere Articulatory rehearsal loop (Phonological loop) Left Hemisphere  Some cognitive resources are specialized Participants shadow one list while Most similar memorizing another. Three conditions: Somewhat hear words + hear words Reaction time similar Similar tasks hear words + see words Somewhat similar hear words + see pictures Least similar Least similar RTs Slow: Use same resources (competition) RTs Fast: Use different resources  Some cognitive resources are general Generalized resources lead to interference in seemingly different tasks  Some cognitive resources are general E.g. Highway driving while: Talking to a passenger Talking on a hands free cell phone Driving ability drops when talking on a cell phone Some tasks want all the resources  3.6 times more likely to get in a crash This accounts for 6.4% of all crashes Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Characteristics of Attention Limited in Capacity and Resources The world is complex We are able to handle multiple simultaneous inputs (kinda) We are bad at multitasking Is NOT the same as awareness You are able to process unconscious info Attention takes time! Attentional demands vary based on Task Experience (practice)  Attention Is NOT the same as awareness Information available to us consciously Information we attend to Information available to us in the world Information available to us unconsciously We can’t effectively use this info Theories of Attention  Theories of Attention Attention is a Limited mental resource But when does the limit kick in? I.e. when do we stop processing information?  Broadbent’s Early Selection Theory (aka “Filter or Bottleneck” model) Only the attended (conscious) messages passes through the filter/bottleneck  Selective Attention When one focuses on one input or one task while ignoring other stimuli  Selective Attention: Dichotic Listening Shadowing (repeating an audio track) Dichotic listening—Different messages to each ear (Cherry, 1953; Cherry & Taylor, 1954) Attended channel—Listen to this one Unattended channel—Ignore this one  Selective Attention: Dichotic Listening What we know about the content of the un-shadowed, or unattended, message? Explicit effects (Conscious) – things we know we know Voice: Sex & Tone No knowledge of the message or language Unless it is salient Cocktail party effect - ability to focus on a single conversation in the midst of a noisy situation. This is a problem for the early selection theory  Selective Attention: Dichotic Listening What we know about the content of the un-shadowed, or unattended, message? Implicit Effects (Unconscious) – things we don’t know we know Implicit measures E.g. Priming - The facilitation (e.g. Reaction Time, Accuracy) or change in response due to prior exposure to a stimulus or related stimulus Does not need conscious awareness  Mid-Selection: Treisman’s Attenuation Model All input receives analysis, but only the attended input reaches consciousness or is remembered. Unattended input is unconscious.  Treisman’s Theory of Attention Evidence for mid-selection: priming and relevance studies Follow the message: relevance Mackay (1975): relevance Attended Ear Unattended Ear Shadowed ambiguous sentences Presented with words that “Clarified” the ambiguous sentence E.g. “They threw stones at the E.g. presented with bank” “Water” or “Money” Mackay (1975): relevance Results Heard in Unattended Ear “Water” “Money” Q: “Did you hear this sentence?” X “They threw stones at the Recognition river bank.” X Test “They threw stones at the S&L.” Corteen and Dunn (1974) – Indirect Memory task Classical Conditioning Two groups of Participants Shock v. No Shock (control) Phase1: Presented with City names Shock group: some City names paired with shock E.g. Dallas Boise**** Reno Trenton**** Plymouth Salem**** Corteen and Dunn (1974) – Indirect Memory task Classical Conditioning Phase2: Dichotic listening task Chair Tree Measures: Dallas 1) Button press to any Boise**** city names phase1. Flower 2) Galvanic Skin Trenton**** Response (GSR) Plymouth Attention model selection review Broadbent (filter/bottleneck) – early Explicit effects: Sex and Tone Treisman (selective attenuator) – middle and late Implicit effect: cocktail party effect, follow the message (relevance), priming, classical conditioning Conclusion Selection can occur, early, middle, and late The later, the more resources Characteristics of Attention Limited in Capacity and Resources The world is complex We are able to handle multiple simultaneous inputs (kinda) We are bad at multitasking Is NOT the same as awareness You are able to process unconscious info Attention takes time! Attentional demands vary based on Task Experience (practice) Characteristics of Attention Attention takes time! Attentional Blink ZAPS  Attentional Blink Task: Presented with a string of numbers with some letters mixed in. Your task was to indicate when letters were present. IV: The spacing between the letters Short – 1# between letters Med – 3#s between letters Long – 7#s between letters DV: letter identification rate (accuracy)  Attentional Blink Result: People often fail to detect a second stimulus when it is close in time. This is known as an Attentional Blink. The “Blink” occurs due to information processing. Attention takes time! Characteristics of Attention Limited in Capacity and Resources The world is complex We are able to handle multiple simultaneous inputs (kinda) We are bad at multitasking Is NOT the same as awareness You are able to process unconscious info Attention takes time! Attentional demands vary based on Task Experience (practice) Characteristics of Attention Attentional demands vary based on Task Experience (practice)  The Role of Practice Practice makes perfect! Practice leads to fewer needed cognitive resources (executive control) Why? Complex tasks get broken into parts With practice, these parts go from being controlled to being automatic The Stroop Task Zaps  An example of automatic processing and selective attention: The Stroop Task Task Name the color of an object On each trial you were shown a word (RED, GREEN, or BLUE) that was printed in either red, green, or blue font color. Your task was to classify, as quickly as possible, the font color, regardless of the word name. IV: Font Color and Word Color Match or Mismatch DV: Reaction Time to the stimulus  automatic processing and Easy Hard selective attention The downside of automaticity is seen in tasks that require the participant to override an automatic response. The Stroop task illustrates the high automaticity of reading.  Automatic vs Controlled Processing Automatic Occurs without intention, without a conscious decision Not open to conscious awareness or introspection Fast Does not require flexibility in approach Controlled Requires little to no Attention Occurs only with intention, with a Uses few resources deliberate decision Engage in familiar tasks Is open to awareness or introspection Occurs in parallel. (e.g. Vis search) Slow Requires flexibility in approach But Less robust error checking Requires Attention Hard to change Uses many resources No awareness if things deviate Engage in difficult or new from “normal” Occurs in serial (e.g. Vis search)  Summary of attention and practice Tasks require resources you cannot “spend” more resources than you have Some resources are task-specific and others are task-general If two tasks make demands upon the same resources, the result will be interference Practice increases the automaticity of a task, resulting in the need for fewer cognitive resources Characteristics of Attention Limited in Capacity and Resources The world is complex We are able to handle multiple simultaneous inputs (kinda) We are bad at multitasking Is NOT the same as awareness You are able to process unconscious info Attention takes time! Attentional demands vary based on Task Experience (practice)