exam 2 ch 4

Stroop Task

A research procedure where subjects are asked to name the color of printed words where some words are color words that conflict with the print color showing interference in the naming task

Shadowing Task

A research procedure where subjects are asked to repeat (i.e., shadow) a message heard over headphones

Dual-Task Method

A research procedure where subjects are given two tasks to perform at once—to compare with performance on one task alone—to examine interference due to the second task

Cocktail Party Effect

An effect of attention where one's focus changes abruptly due to a salient stimulus (such as one's name) in the environment

The results of the Strayer and Johnston study showed that driving abilities are inhibited when subjects talked on the phone. What do these results mean for new laws requiring "hands free" cell phone use while driving?

Because the "hands free" and handheld cell phone groups both showed equally lowered performance in the study, these results suggest that requiring hands-free phone devices will not be sufficient to keep people from having lowered driving performance while talking on a cell phone.

What are the similar aspects in Treisman's feature integration model and Schneider and Shiffrin's (1977) description of attention?

Both models contain conscious and automatic processes that support attention.

Inattentional Blindness (Also Change Blindness)

Failure to notice a change in the environment

Why is it easier for research subjects to complete a Stroop task if they are unfamiliar with the language the task is presented in?

If reading that language is not an automatic process for the subject, then the language will not interfere with color naming.

Simon Effect

Interference in response due to inconsistency between the response and the stimulus

Controlled Processing

Processing due to an intention that consumes cognitive resources

Automatic Processing

Processing that is not controlled and does not tax cognitive resources

Describe how Treisman's attenuation model would explain how you can study with background music playing without it interfering with your task. How would this model describe your ability to hear your text alert on your phone without losing concentration in your studying?

The attenuation model suggests that the strength of less relevant stimuli (such as background music) is reduced as it passes through the filter such that less attention is paid to it. However, information does make it through, and stimuli that have a low threshold in the dictionary unit (like the important sound of your text alert) can capture attention.

Imagine you are focusing your attention on a person in a crowd. For each of the three models of attention—filter model, spotlight model, feature-integration model—explain how this task would work.

The filter model suggests you filter out all the other people to focus on the relevant person. The spotlight model suggests you move your "spotlight" of attention around the crowd and then focus it on the relevant person once he or she is identified. The feature-integration model suggests that the features of the people in the crowd are automatically processed and you bind those features together with your attention to identify the individuals in the crowd to find the relevant person.

How do the two stages of the feature-integration model of attention differ?

The first stage is an automatic processing stage that does not require attention in identifying features in a scene. The second stage is a controlled processing stage requiring attention that binds features together to allow for object identification and scene understanding.

In what way is a cognitive system designed to transfer tasks from controlled to automatic processing adaptive?

This is a more efficient system because more mental resources are available for controlled tasks when automatic processes take over for other tasks.

What does it mean that attention is a "limited mental resource"?

This means that our available cognitive resources for paying attention have a particular level at any given moment such that if we divide them across tasks requiring attention, performance on the tasks can suffer.

In what way is automaticity involved in Logan's instance theory?

after many experiences/instances with a task, the information about that task is retrieved automatically when one is placed in the task context.

In a study, subjects must perform math problems while also trying to remember lists of words for later recall. Researchers compare the performance on the memory assignment with and without the accompanying math problems to determine if those calculations interfere with performance. This study uses the ______ methodology to study attention abilities.

dual-task

At a party, you become distracted and fail to notice that someone standing next to you has left and another person has replaced her. This scenario is an example of ______.

inattentional blindness

Not noticing a change in the environment from moment to moment is called ______.

inattentional blindness

Schneider and Shiffrin's (1977) experiments showed that when the targets and distractors were ______, the task became automatic for the subjects.

of the same type

Tasks that initially require controlled attention can become automatic with ______.

practice

In Treisman and Gelade's (1980) experiments on visual search for a target, the targets in the ______ condition seemed to pop out of the displays

single-feature