PSY 420 Chapter 4

In a ____ we look for just one characteristic (e.g., color, shape, or size) that makes our search object different from all others. a. Feature search b. Characteristic selectivity c. Signal scanning d. Visual selective attention

a. Feature search

Which model of selective attention suggests that messages that are of high importance to a person may break through the filter of selective attention? a. Moray's selective filter model b. the multimode theory c. Deutsch and Deutsch's late filter model d. Treisman's attenuation model

a. Moray's selective filter model

____ involves being able to select which stimuli to attend to. a. Orienting b. Alerting c. Executive attention d. Searching

a. Orienting

____ refers to the process by which particular stimuli activate mental pathways that enhance the ability to process subsequent stimuli related to the initial stimuli in some way. a. Priming b. Feature enhancement c. Conjunction processing d. Binaural processing

a. Priming

____ refers to our ability to attend to some stimuli while ignoring or minimally processing other stimuli. a. Selective attention b. Vigilance c. Search d. Multiple-task processing

a. Selective attention

____ refers to an experience involving the preconscious level of consciousness, in which a person tries to remember something that is known to be stored in memory, but that the person cannot quite retrieve. a. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon b. The tip-of-awareness phenomenon c. Freudian slip d. Subliminal perception

a. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

Which statement about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is true? a. Those with it have difficulty focusing their attention. b. Those with it focus too much on details. c. It often appears in late adulthood. d. Medicines used to treat it affect the neurotransmitter acetycholine.

a. Those with it have difficulty focusing their attention.

As a child, every time you went to a place with large crowds, your mother had you wear a bright colored shirt. She knew that it would be easier to spot you in the crowd by the color of your shirt. She was making use of ____. a. a feature search b. vigilance c. divided attention d. a conjunction search

a. a feature search

According to the ____ theories of attention, people have a fixed amount of attentional capacity that they allocate to the perceived task requirements. a. attentional-resource b. filter and bottleneck c. neurological d. signal-detection

a. attentional-resource

A person with lesions in the visual cortex may report not being able to see information; however, if forced to answer about an item, the person can often correctly guess the location and orientation of various objects. This suggests that some processing of visual information occurs outside of conscious awareness, a process called ____. a. blindsight b. peripheral vision c. change blindness d. signal detection theory

a. blindsight

The ____ phenomenon refers to the process of tracking one conversation in the face of the distraction of other conversations. a. cocktail party b. dichotic listening c. bidirectional attention d. subliminal perception

a. cocktail party

According to ____, all searches, whether conjunctive or feature, involve two stages. The first stage involves the analysis of features and the second involves combining features into objects. a. feature-integration theory b. movement-filter theory c. Broadbent's model d. similarity theory

a. feature-integration theory

According to signal-detection theory, a ____ occurs when we correctly identify the presence of a signal. a. hit b. false alarm c. miss d. correct rejection

a. hit

Research suggests that children of mothers with lower levels of education show ____ of selective attention on neural processing a. reduced effects b. increased effects c. no effects d. random effects

a. reduced effects

Which theory characterizes our ability to correctly state whether or not a particular stimulus has been presented? a. signal-detection theory b. change blindness c. attentional-resource d. attentional integration theory

a. signal-detection theory

According to the ____ theory, the difficulty of eliminating distractors depends on the characteristics they do or do not share. a. similarity b. commonality c. feature-integration d. signal-detection

a. similarity

Both _____ anxiety influence attentional processes. a. state-based and trait-based b. avoidant and nonavoidant c. internal and external d. overt and covert

a. state-based and trait-based

_____ involves being prepared to focus on incoming information. a. Orienting b. Alerting c. Executive attention d. Searching

b. Alerting

____ refers to a degree of physiological excitation, responsivity, and readiness for action relative to a baseline. a. Awareness b. Arousal c. Attention d. Vigilance

b. Arousal

____ is the means by which we actively select and process a limited amount of information from all of the information captured by our senses, our stored memories, and our other cognitive processes. a. Arousal b. Attention c. Consciousness d. Priming

b. Attention

Which model of selective attention suggests that, while there are multiple channels for sensory input, only one channel is processed while the other channels of information are filtered out before sensory processing? a. Treisman's attenuation model b. Broadbent's model c. Single channel detection theory d. Deutsch and Deutsch's late filter model

b. Broadbent's model

____ refer to nontarget stimuli that divert our attention away from the target stimulus. a. Signals b. Distracters c. Secondary stimuli d. Secondary signals

b. Distracters

Which best describes the dual-task paradigm used to study divided attention in the laboratory? a. Participants are asked to listen information presented to one ear and repeat the information heard. b. Participants are asked to watch a film showing two activities superimposed on one another. c. Participants watch a screen and press a button when a particular feature is present. d. Participants are asked to watch a film that is sometimes presented with sound effects and sometimes without.

b. Participants are asked to watch a film showing two activities superimposed on one another.

____ refers to accidentally repeating steps of an automatic procedure after the procedure has been completed. a. Omissions b. Perseverations c. Description errors d. Data-driven errors

b. Perseverations

____ refers to an experimental task in which you listen to two different messages and then are required to repeat back only one of the messages as soon as possible after you hear it, while ignoring the other. a. Selective listening b. Shadowing c. Unilateral attention d. Uniaural listening task

b. Shadowing

____ refers to a person's ability to attend to a field of stimulation over a prolonged period, during which the person seeks to detect the appearance of a particular target stimulus of interest. a. Selective attention b. Vigilance c. Search d. Multiple-task processing

b. Vigilance

According to signal-detection theory, a ____ occurs when we incorrectly report that a signal is present when it is, in fact, absent. a. hit b. false alarm c. miss d. correct rejection

b. false alarm

According to ____ theory, the key factor affecting the relative ease or difficulty of visual searches is whether or not we must combine various characteristics of objects to successfully complete our search. a. similarity b. feature-integration c. commonality d. signal-detection

b. feature-integration

According to the ____ theories of attention, information is selectively blocked out or attenuated as it passes from one level of processing to the next. a. attentional-resource b. filter and bottleneck c. neurological d. signal-detection

b. filter and bottleneck

Research indicates that the neurotransmitter ____ is involved in alerting. a. epinephrine b. norepinephrine c. serotonin d. dopamine

b. norepinephrine

Marla is carefully transplanting tomato seedlings as she has often done when a neighbor stops by to chat. After Marla has resumed her task, she stops suddenly, realizing she has failed to put fertilizer in the bottom of the hole before she puts in the seedling. Marla has made a(n) ____. a. perseveration b. omission c. description error d. associative-activation error

b. omission

Ulric Neisser synthesized the early filter and the late filter models in part by proposing that there are two processes governing attention: ____. a. foreground and background processes b. preattentive and attentive processes c. signal and noise processes d. target and distracter processes

b. preattentive and attentive processes

Information about your bedroom, such as the number of windows in it, is often easily pulled from ____ awareness to conscious awareness. a. superconscious b. preconscious c. subconscious d. unconscious

b. preconscious

Suppose you are a radiologist reading mammograms. Your job is to determine whether there are any suspicious, possibly malignant images. In this type of task, the stimulus that you are attempting to detect may be called a ____. a. filter b. signal c. false alarm d. hit

b. signal

Which function of attention involves the ability to correctly state whether or not a particular stimulus has been presented? a. stimulus observation b. signal detection c. attentional integration d. stimulus selection

b. signal detection

Alice is a lifeguard at a busy beach. When on duty, she must remain alert to detect someone having difficulties in the water or other potentially dangerous situations, despite prolonged periods during which no danger is present. Alice's job requires great ____. a. selective attention b. vigilance c. search d. multiple-task processing

b. vigilance

____ refers to the process by which a person repeats a procedure so frequently that the procedure changes from being highly conscious and effortful to being relatively automatic and effortless. a. Habituation b. Adaptation c. Automatization d. Dishabituation

c. Automatization

____ includes both the feeling of awareness and the content of awareness. a. Arousal b. Attention c. Consciousness d. Priming

c. Consciousness

____ processing refers to cognitive processing that requires conscious control and effort that is performed one step at a time. a. Natural b. Procedural c. Controlled d. Automatic

c. Controlled

What was the pattern of results that Marcel (1983) found using primes that have two different meanings (e.g., palm: hand or tree)? a. He showed evidence for positive priming only (facilitation). b. He showed evidence of negative priming only (inhibition). c. His results depended on whether or not the prime was viewed long enough to become conscious. d. He found priming effects only when the prime was consciously viewed.

c. His results depended on whether or not the prime was viewed long enough to become conscious.

____ refers to situations in which we actively seek out particular stimuli. a. Selective attention b. Vigilance c. Search d. Multiple-task processing

c. Search

The ____ refers to the psychological difficulty in selective attention that occurs when a literate person attempts to name the colors of ink used to print the color words for other colors (e.g., "blue" may be printed in red ink). a. semantic confusion phenomenon b. feature-integration problem c. Stroop effect d. signal effect

c. Stroop effect

Which model of selective attention suggests that instead of blocking out stimuli, the filter merely weakens the strength of all stimuli other than the target stimulus? a. Broadbent's model b. Deutsch and Deutsch's late filter model c. Treisman's attenuation model d. Guided search model of information processing

c. Treisman's attenuation model

Which best describes the capacity model of attention? a. Attention has a filter that can move dependent on the level of meaning we assign to it. b. Attention has several filters at the sensory level. c. We have a fixed amount of attention that we can use on multiple tasks. d. We learn to pay attention and the more we practice the better we get.

c. We have a fixed amount of attention that we can use on multiple tasks.

The ____ appears to be important in the regulation of vigilance. a. frontal lobe b. occipital cortex c. amygdala d. pons

c. amygdala

In ____ we intend to deviate from a routine activity we are implementing in familiar surroundings, but at a point at which we should depart from the routine, we fail to pay attention and to regain control of the process. a. loss of activation error b. omissions c. capture errors d. perseverations

c. capture errors

In a ____ search, we must search for a combination of stimulus characteristics.. a. selectivity b. polymorphism c. conjunction d. feature

c. conjunction

Splitting your attentional resources between two or more different task is called ____. a. selective attention b. feature search c. divided attention d. signal detection

c. divided attention

You are watching your favorite TV show when a friend enters the room and wants to engage you in conversation. You really want to watch your show, but know that you should attend to the conversation. You try to do both. This is an example of ____. a. selective attention b. feature search c. divided attention d. signal detection theory

c. divided attention

Most people can listen to music and write a paper simultaneously, but it is harder to listen to the news station and concentrate on writing at the same time. This is because ____. a. music is often relaxing and makes it easier to concentrate b. people are often upset by what is on the news and that harms their concentration c. listening to the news and writing a paper both require verbal processing d. most people do not listen to the news all that often or closely, so it is novel

c. listening to the news and writing a paper both require verbal processing

Your roommate has made it abundantly clear to you that you are to pick up a particular bottle of wine on your way back from class and you dutifully stop at the wine store, only to discover you cannot remember the name of the wine. You are experiencing a(n) ____ error. a. data-driven b. associative-activation c. loss of activation d. description

c. loss of activation

According to signal-detection theory, a ____ occurs when we incorrectly report that a signal is absent, when it is, in fact, present. a. hit b. false alarm c. miss d. correct rejection

c. miss

When our routines are interrupted, we may accidentally skip steps despite the fact that our routines are well learned. This describes a(n) _____. a. capture error b. perseveration c. omission d. description error

c. omission

Information that is available for cognitive processing but that currently lies outside of conscious awareness exists at the ____ level of awareness. a. superconscious b. conscious c. preconscious d. unconscious

c. preconscious

Trying to locate a particular friend in a crowded auditorium or a particular key term in a large list of terms are examples of ____. a. selective attention b. vigilance c. search d. multiple-task processing

c. search

Madden's (2007) research examining the impact of aging on visual search ability has found that ____. a. older participants are more accurate but slower than younger participants b. younger participants are more accurate but slower than older participants c. younger participants are more accurate and faster than older participants d. there are no age differences on visual search tasks

c. younger participants are more accurate and faster than older participants

____ processing refers to cognitive manipulation that requires no conscious decisions or intentional effort. a. Natural b. Procedural c. Controlled d. Automatic

d. Automatic

Which model of selective attention suggests that the filter for blocking signals occurs after sensory processing and allows for both perceptual and conceptual analysis of information to take place? a. Treisman's attenuation model b. perceptual-conceptual theory c. guided search model d. Deutsch and Deutsch's late filter model

d. Deutsch and Deutsch's late filter model

____ presentation refers to the simultaneous presentation of different auditory stimuli (such as verbal messages) to each ear. a. Binaural b. Equalized c. Parallel d. Dichotic

d. Dichotic

____ refers to a situation in which we must prudently allocate cognitive resources so we can complete two or more tasks simultaneously. a. Selective attention b. Vigilance c. Search d. Divided attention

d. Divided attention

What does research on attention state about multitasking? a. A small percentage of the population is extremely good at multitasking. b. Everyone can be trained to multitask effectively c. Multitasking requires computer proficiency. d. Multitasking makes you slower and more prone to make mistakes.

d. Multitasking makes you slower and more prone to make mistakes.

____ model combines early-filter and later-filter models by suggesting that there are two processes, preattentive and attentive, that govern attention. a. Kihlstrom's b. Treisman's c. Deutsch's d. Neisser's

d. Neisser's

Your child attends a school that requires all children to wear particular uniforms, although the shirts can be white or light blue and the pants and skirts can be khaki or dark blue. When you search for your child in a sea of children whose faces you cannot see, you must search for a child wearing the same color shirt and pants as your child wore, with the same color hair of your child and the same height and build of your child. In other words, you must use a ____ search. a. a feature b. polymorphic c. divided d. a conjunction

d. a conjunction

Your child attends a school that requires all children to wear particular uniforms, although the shirts can be white or light blue and the pants and skirts can be khaki or dark blue. Although it can be difficult to spot your child, when it is raining, it is easy for you to spot the red umbrella that your child uses in the sea of dark umbrellas. The search has changed from ____ to _____. a. a feature search; a conjunction search b. selective attention; divided attention c. divided attention; selective attention d. a conjunction search; a feature search

d. a conjunction search; a feature search

Your usual walk home has been changed because of construction. Instead of turning right when you pass the park, you must now turn left right before the park. Unfortunately, you typically do not remember this until you are midway through the park. You are making a(n) ____ error. a. loss of activation b. description c. data-driven d. associative activation

d. associative activation

Thomas is supposed to stop for milk, bread and cheese on his way from home from work. This requires that he get off train two stops early to pick up the items. Unfortunately, he does not remember to get off early and must backtrack to get to the store. Thomas has made a(n) ____. a. description error b. omission c. perseveration d. capture error

d. capture error

A person who fails to detect changes that occur for attended or unattended objects in a viewed scene is demonstrating ____. a. blindsight b. divided attention c. a conjunction search d. change blindness

d. change blindness

In the making of a movie, any particular scene is often filmed several times. No matter how hard they try during the editing process, there is often some discontinuity in the scenes (e.g., an object suddenly changes location from one location to another). Failure to notice these changes would be an example of ____. a. blindsight b. divided attention c. conjunction search d. change blindness

d. change blindness

Which of the following is NOT a primary function of attention? a. vigilance b. search c. selective attention d. consciousness

d. consciousness

According to signal-detection theory, a ____ occurs when we correctly report that a signal is absent. a. hit b. false alarm c. miss d. correct rejection

d. correct rejection

Your younger sibling has a nasty habit of trying to annoy you when you are calling a phone number that is not already in your phone by shouting out random numbers as you enter the correct digits. Your sibling is hoping you will make a(n) ____ error. a. loss of activation b. description c. associative-activation d. data driven

d. data driven

Verlys just picked up mail at her post office box and is standing at a table sorting it. Catalogs and junk mail get thrown away while important mail is placed in her bag. Unfortunately, she drops several important pieces of mail into the trash. This is best described as a(n) ____. a. omission b. perseveration c. habituation d. description error

d. description error

Fred needs to spot a particular friend in a crowded auditorium. Fred's friend has very bright red hair, so Fred scans the hall for very bright red hair. Fred is using a ____ search. a. characteristic b. selective c. conjunction d. feature

d. feature

The effects of practice on automatization show a ____ curve, in which early practice effects are great and later practice makes less and less difference in the degree of automatization. a. curvilinear b. monotonic c. positively accelerated d. negatively accelerated

d. negatively accelerated

Mistakes are to controlled processes as ______ are to automatic processes. a. tip-of-the-tongue effects b. data c. Stroop effects d. slips

d. slips

What attentional dysfunction, typically due to lesions in the parietal lobes, occurs when a person ignores information from half of their visual field? a. single hemisphere neglect b. anterior attentional deficit c. signal detection failure d. spatial neglect

d. spatial neglect