Attention

Question 1

According to William James, what is attention?

Answer 1

“Focalization, concentration of consciousness. Taking possession by the mind of one out of several simultaneously possible trains of thoughts. Implies withdrawal from some things”

Question 2

Is attention a single phenomena?

Answer 2

Nope!
Its a combination of cognitive mechanisms

Question 3

What do the cog mechanisms in attention help us do?

Answer 3

• Select
• Modulate
• Sustain focus on info that might be most relevant for behavior

Question 4

is our ability to process info unlimited?

Answer 4

nope, very much capacity limited
–> we can only handle small amounts of info at a time

Question 5

3 overarching functions of attention

Answer 5

1. selection
2. modulation
3. vigilance

Question 6

External attention

Answer 6

Where we attend outwardly to select and modulate sensory info

Question 7

Internal attention

Answer 7

Where we select, modulate and maintain internally generated info (thoughts, feelings, contents of our memory, physiological signs etc)

Question 8

is the division between extrenal and internal attention exact?

Answer 8

no, its really fuzzy and they influence each other
–> not mutually exclusive but lets pretend

Question 9

The control over external atetntion may be linked to what other cognitive ability?

Answer 9

Working memory capacity

Question 10

Working memory

Answer 10

Our ability to keep selected info consciously in mind, manipulating and maintaining even when stim is not there

Question 11

what have we found about WM and external attention?

Answer 11

The higher your WM capacity, the better you will be able to control/direct ur external attention
–> people asked to remember the placement of relevant stimuli in 3 conditions (distracted and not). those w higher WM capacity performed just as well in the distracted category while the others struggled

Question 12

Overt Attention

Answer 12

Form of spatial attention, moving one’s eyes towards a location to allocate attention there

Question 13

Covert Attention

Answer 13

Attending to an area in the periphery w/o actually directing the eye gaze there
–> Limits ability to see details

Question 14

Is attention voluntary?

Answer 14

Can be voluntary but also involuntary in the case of salient stimuli

Question 15

Does viewer’s attention always correlate with their behaviour?

Answer 15

No. Looking at someone doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily paying attention to them

Question 16

What are saccades?

Answer 16

quick jumps or shifts of the eyes to objects of interest (though these can also be reflective)

Question 17

What are saccades linked to?

Answer 17

Spatial attention

–> Planning a saccade to an object is preceded by a shift of attention to that object

Question 18

Are brain areas involving saccades linked to anything else?

Answer 18

Yes, many are also responsable for attention

Question 19

What is the superior colliculus?

Answer 19

A part of the midbrain, on the back surface of the brainstem, that receives direct input from the retina and other sensory areas to combine them

Question 20

What is selection

Answer 20

• one of the key functions of attention
  = singling out certain pieces of info among many

Question 21

Voluntary attention

Answer 21

An effortful process in which we selectively attend to goal-relevant info

Question 22

Reflexive attention

Answer 22

Allocated because a salient (noticeable) object or event has captured our attention
–> draws attention away from initial focus

Question 23

where does tension between voluntary and reflexive attention happen?

Answer 23

in other sensory modalities as well
–> trying to listen to your friend in a crowded space

Question 24

4 types of attentions that observers might attend to

Answer 24

• spatial
• object-based
• feature-based
• temporal

Question 25

spatial attention

Answer 25

attending to a location in space (Look to the left)

Question 26

what happens with spatial attention?

Answer 26

we both enhance info at a specific location and suppresses info outside

Question 27

enhanced attention

Answer 27

faster, more accurate

Question 28

supressed attention

Answer 28

slower, less accurate compared to a neutral condition

Question 29

what causes attentional resolution to decrease?

Answer 29

increase in attentional breadth (larger spotlight)

Question 30

Posner cueing task

Answer 30

Named after Posner → Includes a visual cue pointing to the upcoming target with a likelihood which the researcher can adjust. can be a valid or invalid cue

Question 31

Endogenous / central cue

Answer 31

Engages voluntary attention, can appear in between the potential target locations and indicate symbolically where the target is going to appear. Cognitively slow. Ex, arrows

Question 32

where are ENDOGENOUS cues located in the brain?

Answer 32

dorsal

Question 33

exogenous / peripheral cue

Answer 33

Engages reflexive attention. Can appear at one of the target locations. Cognitively faster.

Question 34

where are EXOGENOUS cues located in the brain?

Answer 34

ventral

Question 35

how long is exogenous attention?

Answer 35

very short, transient, faster to allocate but shorter to mantain

Question 36

what follows exogenous attention?

Answer 36

short period wher processing at this location is supressed and attention is inhibited from returning to that spot (inhibition of return)

Question 37

how long is endogenous attention?

Answer 37

takes double the time to lead to any measureable changes in perception but can be mantained for much longer

Question 38

object-based attention

Answer 38

= Selective attention to an object rather than to a point in space --> objects themselves are the unit of attention (find Waldo)

Question 39

in object based attention, attention to one part of the object entails how did we find evidence for this?

Answer 39

attention to the whole object --> through investigating patients with brain lessions

Question 40

what happens with patients with spatial neglect issues in object based attention?

Answer 40

may show object-based neglect where they aren’t able to process the left side of any object, even when it’s shown in the right hemisphere

Question 41

feature-based attention

Answer 41

= Ability to attend to or filter out information based on features like color, shape or motion (looking for a person wearing a pink coat)

Question 42

feature based tuning

Answer 42

increased activity in neural regions sensitive to the target feature across the visual field, even without sensory stimulation

Question 43

temporal attention

Answer 43

= Ability to pay attention to points in time --> shapes what we're aware of

Question 44

Attentional blink

Answer 44

Effect in which the second of two targets in rapid succession of items is more difficult to detect than the first --> happens due to temporal attention

Question 45

Biased competition model of attention

Answer 45

Stimuli in a cluttered visual environment compete with each other to drive the responses of neurons in the visual system

Question 46

when is competition particularly strong between stimuli?

Answer 46

when they all fall within the same receptive field / region of the visual field

Question 47

what does smaller distance between the stimuli lead to in neurons?

Answer 47

The smaller the distance between stimuli, the greater overlap in activated neurons = increased competition among the neural representations

Question 48

selective atteention biases the competition towards one stimuli based on

Answer 48

- bottom up selection (salience of physical features) OR - top down (goal-relevance of certain objectS)

Question 49

what other factor can also affect which stimuli we focus on?

Answer 49

emotional arousal

Question 50

what is the ambiguity resolution theory of visual selective memory?

Answer 50

The presence of multiple stimuli can lead to ambiguity about which mental representations accurately reflect the external world given the amount of neural networks involved in understanding the world

Question 51

how many models do we have to understand when attentional selection occurs? what are these and who championed for them

Answer 51

2 opposing viewpoints - early-selection --> Broadbent - late-selection --> treisman

Question 52

early selection

Answer 52

prposed by broadbent --> We attentionally select stimuli based on physical features such as colour, pitch, or location, and then register their meaning only after we have selected them

Question 53

late selection

Answer 53

proposed by treisman also called pre-attentive processing --> We first process the meaning of everything around us before selecting items that will gain heightened awareness

Question 54

what is the debate around how we processs info? what is the current conclusion??

Answer 54

do we process info all at once (parallel) or one after the other (serially) --> Both are present, their use depends on the situation

Question 55

how does the visual search task work?

Answer 55

observers are instructed to look for a target in an array of visual distractors.

Question 56

what is some evidence for parallel processing

Answer 56

in the visual task, when a target is characterized by a distinctive feature, it 'pops-out' and we detect it super quickly regardless of the array's size

Question 57

what is some evidence for serial processing

Answer 57

in the visual task, as the array has a conjunction of features, search time increases as the array gets larger

Question 58

what are some critiques of the parallel/serial processing ideas

Answer 58

- its difficult to distinguish them from each other - and they might mimic each other even in data - considering a spectrum might be more accurate

Question 59

Feature integration theory

Answer 59

Treisman during preattention processing, we do not perceive individual objects but instead a jumble of colours and shapes focusing attention on these features allows us to perceive meaningful objects

Question 60

binding problem

Answer 60

=since visual features are processed in different regions of the brain, how do we make sense of the almost infinite ways the features can be combined? --> treisman's theory adresses this

Question 61

features of preattention processing

Answer 61

- fast - early - automatic - parallel

Question 62

further support for Treisman's feature integration theory

Answer 62

phenomenon of illusory conjunctions = incorrect combining of the feature in front of us

Question 63

dichotic listening

Answer 63

when participants are asked to listen to two different messages played simultaneously over headphones

Question 64

what have we found through dichotic listening experiments?

Answer 64

- when participants are asked to attend to one ear and repeat its message, they can barely report anything from the other ear - HOWEVER they are able to report physical properties of the simuli like changes in gender or pitch

Question 65

what model did David Broadbent come up with

Answer 65

filter model of attention

Question 66

filter model of attention

Answer 66

- suggested that info is attended or ignored based on 'early' stimulus characteristics --> based on early selection

Question 67

what was an issue with the filter model of attention

Answer 67

when words had particular relevant meaning, partiicpants did notice them, even when played through the ear they weren't attending

Question 68

stages of the filter model of attention (2)

Answer 68

1. preattentive stage = brain automatically gathers info about basic features found in the visual field 2. focused attention stage = we select an object and attend to it, understanding it as an object, comparing it with previous experience, then recognizing it and being able to name it etc

Question 69

what model did treisman come up with?

Answer 69

Treisman's attenuator model

Question 70

treisman's attenuator model

Answer 70

- extends broadbent's model - but suggests that unattended info isn't ignored, but rather dampened - and can reach awareness if its meaningful enough

Question 71

what does current research suggest about the locus of attentional selection?

Answer 71

its flexible

Question 72

what is Lavie's "load theory"

Answer 72

- it depends on how demanding the attended task is - if its more demanding, requiring more attentional resources, there will be higher filtering out of non-attending stimuli

Question 73

High perceptual load

Answer 73

difficult perceptual demands, processing of nontarget info is diminished --> LOWEST neural activity in response to scenes

Question 74

Working memory load

Answer 74

when load is high because a task invovles MEMORY, processing of nontarget info increases --> since they're different cog processes ig? --> HIGHEST neural activity in response to scenes