What does attention require?
Focus, concentration, consciousness
What are the features of attention?
- Selective
- Divided
- Limited capacity
- Interference
- Mental effort
What is selective attention?
The ability to allocate limited resources to different tasks
What is intentional selection of attention?
Purposefully attending to one source while inhibiting attention to others
What is involuntary capture of attention?
Type of selective attention that occurs in response to an external stimuli (ex. Siri speaking during class so everyone looks)
What is the Stroop Effect?
Naming the color of the print is easier if the color is congruent with the word (ex. easier to name the color blue print on the word “blue” than to name the color blue print on the word “red”)
What is the Cocktail Party Problem?
When you hear two messages at the same time (dichotic hearing) this can happen when asked to “shadow” a message or when unattended stimuli is processed parallel with attended stimuli (listen to others while having a separate conversation)
What is change blindness?
Intentionally processing specific visual information led to inability to process changes in other visual stimuli
What is inattentive blindness?
Failure to see certain visual stimuli when engaged in specific search task
What are some limitations to selective attention?
- Some irrelevant stimuli processed in parallel with intended stimuli (stroop effect, cocktail party effect)
- Inattention blindness
What is interference?
Decreased ability to simultaneously perform two tasks, do not have the capacity to meet demand of both tasks
What are the types of interference?
Structural interference: physical
Capacity interference: cognitive
What are the characteristics of controlled processing in terms of mental effort?
- Slow
- Attention demanding (potential for interference)
- Serial
- Volitional
What are the characteristics of automatic processing in terms of mental effort?
- Fast
- Not that attention demanding (little to no interference)
- Parallel
- Not volitional
True or False
Processing is a continuum, meaning that a task that required controlled processing can transition to automatic processing with practice and repetition
True
A task that is completed often and consistently will gradually become more automatic
Describe Single-Filter Channel Theories
- Assume fixed capacity for information processing
- Attention as a single resource directed at one of a number of processing operations
- Bottle neck theories (early vs late)
What is the difference between the early and late bottle neck theories?
The early theories believe that the transition from parallel to serial processing begins early while the later theories believe that processing can remain parallel for longer before it becomes serial
Describe the Flexible Allocation of Capacity Theory
- Theoretical interpretation of divided attention (capacity changes with changes in the task, maximum capacity exists)
- Parallel processing can occur in all information processing stages (attention can be placed on more than one stimulus at a time)
Describe the Multiple Resource Theories
- Attention is made up of multiple pools or resources
- Task competes for attention from varying pools of resources
- Attention can be placed on both input and output stages simultaneously
Describe the Action Selection Theory
- Stimuli processed in parallel early on and action choice causes interference
- Selection is a fundamental process of attention
- Interference among tasks occurs during planning/execution not during stimulus processing
What are the Double-Stimulation Paradigm Findings?
- 2 signals that elicit 2 responses at the same time will increase reaction time and be processed as one complex stimuli
- Overlapping of stimuli can sometimes lead to quicker reaction times
Describe attention during movement
- Not all movement requires attention
- Attention geared toward other aspects of the environment
- Attention may fine tune movements/control
What is the secondary-task technique?
Subject performs a primary task and the secondary task will either be discrete (attention strongest at beginning and end of task) or continuous
How can dual task interference be demonstrated?
- Decreased speed or quality of either task
- Decreased speed or quality in both tasks
- Secondary task unable to begin before completion of primary task
