24. attention 1

Question 1

Attention def?

Answer 1

The selection of some source of sensory stimulation for increased cognitive processing

Question 2

Selective attention def? When?

Answer 2

• Attention to some things and not to others
• ALWAYS selective attention
  –> you can never pay attention to everything at the same time

Question 3

Cocktail party phenomenon?

Answer 3

• crowded, noisy party
• trying to focus on the convo you’re having with a friend
• you hear your name mentioned in another convo & it takes all your attention

Question 4

Dichotic listening study? Who did the study?

Answer 4

• participants wear headphones with different messages in each ear
• asked to shadow (repeat) the message from one ear
• they heard almost nothing from the ignored ear
  –> they did notice when voice changed from man to woman
  –> noticed their own names
• Colin Cherry, also described the cocktail party phenomenon

Question 5

Filter theory of attention meaning?

Answer 5

The theory that:
- all sensory info is registered as physical signals
- but attention selects only some of those signals to be interpreted for meaning
- the rest of the signals are filtered out

proposed by Broadbent

Question 6

Why is filter theory of attention important?

Answer 6

• it’s not actually right!!
• but it was very influential in shaping how people thought ab attention and research

Question 7

Inattentional blindness def? Termed by?

Answer 7

• Failure to perceive a fully visible but unattended visual object
• Coined by Mack & Rock, 1998

Question 8

Inattentional blindness experiment ex. from class? Key vocab term?

Answer 8

• fixation point at the center of the screen
• cross would appear briefly, then masked
• judge which side of the cross was longer
  –> small diff, challenging
• critical stimulus –> in the critical trial, the FIXATION point was replaced by a different shape
• despite the participants looking right at it, they didn’t notice the change

Question 9

Attentional blink def?

Answer 9

Unawareness of stimuli in an attended location if the stimuli occur when we are processing something else

Question 10

Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) experiment def? By who?

Answer 10

• An experimental procedure in which visual stimuli such as letters or photos are presented very rapidly, one after the other, at fixation
• Raymond et al, 1992

Question 11

Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) example from class?
What was the probe vs target? Which first?

Answer 11

• series of red letters
• target:
  –> Green letter
  –> Occurs first
• probe:
  –> Red X
  –> Occurs after
  –> experimenter can change the time/letters between target & probe

Question 12

Change blindness def?
2 types/examples from class?

Answer 12

• Inability to quickly detect changes in complex scenes

1. Changes in movies or real-world scenes
   –> card trick illusion video
2. Flicker paradigm
   –> Picture of city flickering, in every other image a building disappears

Question 13

Overt attention def?

Answer 13

Selectively attending to some information by MOVING one’s eyes

Question 14

Covert attention def?

Answer 14

Selectively attending to some information WITHOUT moving one’s eyes

Question 15

Attentional cuing def?

Answer 15

Providing a cue (e.g., an arrow or tone) about the location and timing of an upcoming stimulus

Question 16

Attentional cuing experiment ex. from class? By who? What happened?

Answer 16

• Posner, et al
• fixation point becomes arrow to indicate which side of the screen they should direct their attention
  *Not move their eyes
• some cues were neutral, some valid (target was where it was supposed to be) and some invalid
• response time was fastest when target was where they’d directed their attention to

Question 17

4 studies you should know about attention and activity in the visual system??

Answer 17

1. Moran & Desimone (V4) (monkeys)
2. Chiu & Yantis (visual cortex)
3. Heeger (visual cortex)
4. O’Craven et al. (MT)

Question 18

Moran & Desimone - what was it? What did it show?

Answer 18

• single cell recording in monkey’s V4
• one effective stimulus –> strong response
• one ineffective stimulus –> weak response
• neuron’s response depended on the stimulus that it was attending

Question 19

Chiu & Yantis - what was it? What did it show?

Answer 19

• fMRI in humans, L vs R activity
• fixation point in center. on both sides there were changing letters and numbers.
• letters R and L would cue them to switch their attention to the other side
• brain activity was greater in right hemisphere when attending the left side (and vice versa)
• attending a specific location without moving eyes changes brain activity

Question 20

Heeger - what was it? What did it show?

Answer 20

• 2 circles with diagonal lines are stimuli
• fixation point in center with little line indicating where to attend
• brain activity was greater in right hemisphere when attending the left side (and vice versa)
• same conclusion as Chiu & Yantis

Question 21

O’Craven et al. - what was it? What did it show?

Answer 21

• display had stationary black dots and moving white dots
• participants told when to switch their attention
• large % change in activity in MT between the moving and stationary dots
• brain activity in MT modulated without eyes moving