COG: Attention

Task switching

completely predictable switching in easy tasks. Letter: consonant vs vowel. Number: odd vs even. More time with task switch. More time between trails leads to less difference.

As the ________ of a stimulus increases, ________ tends to ________. Group of answer choices a. salience; fixation; increase b.schema; sampling; increase c.sampling; warping; decrease d.warping; salience; decrease

a.

As the ________ of a stimulus increases, ________ tends to ________. a. salience; fixation; increase b. warping; salience; decrease c. schema; sampling; increase d. sampling; warping; decrease

a.

Broadbent's model is called an early selection model because a. the filter eliminates unattended information at the beginning of the information flow. b.the filtering step occurs before the information enters the sensory memory. c.only a select set of environmental information enters the system. d.incoming information is selected by the detector.

a.

Each time you briefly pause on one face, you are making a(n) ______________. a. fixation b. stimulus salience c. saccadic eye movement d. overt attention

a.

Resource models

sing resource. Multiple resources: not all time sharing is equal. Wickens: multiple sources of resources. When tasks require common resources, less efficient performance. Task using diff resouces= more successful timesharing.

Moray: 7 Broad Meaning of Attention

1970 1. Mental concentration -Concentrating on a task at hand, and trying to exclude other stimuli that might interfere. 2. Vigilance -Not much is happening, but you need to detect whenever something does happen. 3. Selective attention -Trying to select only one of a several simultaneous streams of information. 4. Search -Looking through a set of signals to find the one you want. 30 5. Activation -Get ready for whatever happens next ("Sit up and pay attention."). 6. Set -Tendency to treat things with a common approach, applying the same mental set to them. 7. Analysis-by-synthesis -The integration of what is present currently, with what we already know and anticipate.

visual orienting

70s cell activity in monkey brains. areas show enhanced activation when attending to target location. Sccade: July movements, smooth pursuit, following someone with eyes.

Which stage in Treisman's attenuation model has a threshold component? a. The "leaky" filter b. The dictionary unit c. The filter d. The attenuator

?

AttentionS

Attention not one thing, variety of functions related to attention. Johston and Dark (1986): problem of variety makes the concept of attention elusive. But evidence not unitary mechanism.

Problems with Broadbent filter theory

Contrary Evidence •Moray (1959) participants detect own name in unattended channel. Hear only name not can get up and leave. •Treisman(1960) switch ears, sometimes continued with message [from unattended ear] •Treisman (1964) all noticed identical unattended message [even if not synchronized] -Treisman: same message/story hear in unattended ear. •Gray &Wedderburn(1960) -"Dear Aunt Jane": See p. 97 of Goldstein

Late-selection theory

Deutsch & Deutsch shifted the filter to after perceptual processing •All incoming stimuli are processed •Everything transmitted to working memory, filter determines what is stored -Selection for action. Ex: apple tree dont need to pay attention to whole tree just an apple.

Object based attention

Duncan: 2 overlapping objects. Worse at 1 judgement about 2 objects than 2 judgments about 1 object. Pylyshyn: can perhaps allocate attention to more than one place.

Practical importance of blindness/change blindness

Errors where people look without seeing. Driving, heads up display, Kenny Coley (Black cop not in uniform seen as suspect).

Individual differences in switching

Gopher and Kahneman: dichotic listening: mixture of words and digits presented simultaneously to both ears. Report digits rom just 1 ear. Tone indicates to switch to report from other ear. Some people good at switching, some not so good. Performance correlates to flying ability of pilots and accident rate of bus drivers.

Consequences of video game

Green & Bavelier (2003). Suggestion that frequent video game players less impacted by high load tasks

Treisman's Attenuation Model

Interpret previous results to suggest at least some processing of unattended information .Filter weakens strength of unattended information [attenuates, use features, meaning for filter].Leaky filter. Dictionary unit: word with meaning.

Common theme of attention models

Limited capacity channel. Attention as filter to limit flow into system.

Attention: from filter to fuel

Resource models help understand why some tasks harder to do at the same time, require more resources. Attention, limited capacity.Level of fuel depend on aurousal. Allociation policy: mechanisms to determine where the resources go. Possible activities: divided across different things you are thinking about doing.

Demands of task

Task load explanation of locus of selection-Lavie(1995). More demanding tasks lead to early selection, less demanding late selection.

A Shift to Visual Attention

Technology, easier to study. Broadbent: disagreed, no eyelids on ears.

selective attention

The ability to focus on one piece of information (and ignore all others). Issue: locus of attention. what are we attending to? does it act early or later in processign? Early studies of attention (in the 1950's), primary questions -detecting auditory stimuli -selectively listening to auditory messages -dichotic listening

Feature integration theory

Treisman and Gelade (1980). Proposed a feature integration theory of attention.Individual features processed pre-attention, but attention is required to integrate features. Single feature vs conjunction search, c longer.

If you are folding towels while watching television, you may find that you don't have to pay much attention to the act of folding while keeping up with the storyline on the TV show. Folding the towels would be an example of a(n) ________ task. a. low-load b. filtered c. attenuated d. high-load

a.

Scene schema is a. knowledge about what is contained in a typical scene b. rapid movements of the eyes from one place to another in a scene. c. how attention is distributed throughout a static scene. d. short pauses of the eyes on points of interest in a scene.

a.

Suppose twin teenagers are vying for their mother's attention. The mother is trying to pay attention to one of her daughters, though both girls are talking (one about her boyfriend, one about a school project). According to the operating characteristics of Treisman's attenuator, it is most likely the attenuator is analyzing the incoming messages in terms of a. meaning. b. direction. c. language. d. physical characteristics.

a.

The difficulty we have in recognizing even an obvious alteration in a scene is called __________ blindness. a. endogenous b. change c. covert d. exogenous

a.

Which of the following illustrates how we can miss things even if they are clearly visible? a. inattention blindness b. change blindness c. illusory conjunctions d. binding

a.

The "filter model" proposes that the filter identifies the attended message based on a.physical characteristics. b.meaning. c.modality. d.higher order characteristics.

a. Filter: attend based on its physical characteristics (voice, pitch) and lets only attended message pass to the detector in next stage. Rest are filtered out.

cocktail party effect

ability to attend to only one voice among many. Selective listening quite proficient if based on distinctive physical features

Flanker Task

an experiment in which participants may be influenced by an irrelevant stimulus beside the target. Spatial flanker task: tap with hand middle arrow is pointing, cant help but look at other arrows. Evidence for late selection. Og study: Congruent = S S S faster than incongruent = S H S

Bottom line of eye tracking and attention

attention can move without our eyes. allocating attention to a certain location improves processing. Moving attention produces a cost. The focus (spotlight) of attention has a certain size (but attention not just set by location).

Spotlight

attention is like a spotlight, moves between locations, things that fall within the beam get picked up.

A bottom-up process is involved in fixating on an area of a scene that a. fits with the observer's interests. b. is familiar. c. has high stimulus salience d. .carries meaning for the observer.

c.

Colin Cherry's experiment in which participants listened to two different messages, one presented to each ear, found that people a. could not focus on a message presented to only one ear. b. could focus on a message only if they rehearsed it. c. could focus on one message and ignore the other one at the same time. d. could focus on a message only if they are repeating it.

c.

In Schneider and Shiffrin's experiment, in which participants were asked to indicate whether a target stimulus was present in a series of rapidly presented "frames," divided attention was easier a. when verbal processing was prohibited by the experimenters b. when processing was more controlled. c. once processing had become automatic d. when processing was done verbally

c.

In Schneider and Shiffrin's experiment, in which participants were asked to indicate whether a target stimulus was present in a series of rapidly presented "frames," divided attention was easier a.when processing was more controlled. b. when processing was done verbally. c. once processing had become automatic. d. when verbal processing was prohibited by the experimenters.

c.

In which concept is an individual's knowledge most important? a.binding b.precueing c.schema d.salience

c.

Which of the following options would NOT be an important factor in automatic processing? a.The use of few cognitive resources b.Tasks that are well-practiced c.Close attention c.Ease in performing parallel tasks

c.

How does perceptual load differ from processing capacity? a. Perceptual load is genetic and processing capacity is learned b.Perceptual load is sensory and processing capacity is cognitive. c. Perceptual load is static and processing capacity is variable. d. Perceptual load is individual and processing capacity is universal.

c. ? capacity: amount o finfo people can handle and sets a limit on ability to processes information. load: difficulty of task.

Saccadic eye movement is a ______________. a.brief pause on another person's face b.shifting of attention from one place to another by moving the eyes c.reaction to physical properties of stimulus d. rapid, jerky movement from one fixation to the next

d.

What contains the words, stored in memory, each of which has a threshold for being activated? a.Attenuator b. Filter c. Detector d. Dictionary unit

d.

Which of the following is most closely associated with Treisman's attenuation theory of selective attention? a. Late selection b. Precueing c. Stroop experiments d. Dictionary unit

d.

Which of the following statements is correct? a. Everything to the right is outside your vision. b. Central vision is everything off to the side. c. Peripheral vision is the area you are looking at d. .Objects in central vision fall on the small area called the fovea.

d.

Illusory conjunctions are a. combinations of features from the masking field and the stimuli. b.misidentified objects using the context of the scene. c.features that are consistent across different stimuli. d.combinations of features from different stimuli.

d. Triangles: see small red triangle green circle report red circle green triangle.

If you are folding towels while watching television, you may find that you don't have to pay much attention to the act of folding while keeping up with the storyline on the TV show. Folding the towels would be an example of a(n) ________ task. a.high load b. filtered c. attenuated d. low-load

d. low load use small amount of processing capacity. High load use more of processing capacity.

Stroop effect

ignored for over 50 year. After behaviorism became prevalent. Intermediate levels of processing, automatic processing of information and prepotent response. Applications: signs ex airplane and arrow.

Locus of attention: Luck & Hillyard (2001)

Modulate visual areas within the first 100 milliseconds after the presentation of a visual stimulus. Eye tracking. 100ms after lower unattended, higher attended --> attention working early in process. Early modulation not selection.

Initial findings for visual search

Neisser(1963): Search time increases linearly with "distance" of letter from start. Rate of search faster when less features are shared (k vs Q, Q more unique).

Conditions for timesharing

Not structural limitation, can timeshare some tasks. Strategic not structural why we don't time share, avoid response interference. Conditions: person gives tasks equal priority, emphasis on speed of both tasks. NO temporal or sequential relationship between responses. Use different perceptual and motor processes. Sufficient practice.

Scanpath

Noton on and Stark. exye movements=attention. Ex: ads online.

Why does inattention blindness/change blindness occur?

Our capacity is limited. Not really extracting detailed information of the visual field. Filling in the details.

Broadbent (1958) filter theory of selective attention

Physical cues serve as basis for filter. Sensory Store, Filter, (only attended info from here), Pattern-Recognition, Short Term Memory

Attention as a System

Posner (2004) •Interaction of multiple levels -anatomical, circuitry, transmitters, functions, deficits, development, genetics, etc. •Attention as an "organ system" -same way we might think about the cardiovascular system or the digestive system

Cueing and Covert attention

Posner: you move attention to something else without moving your eyes. Voluntary cueing (endogenous cue, arrow) automatic orienting (exogenous cue, flashing box). Valid vs invlid cues. Valid cue leads to faster responses than invalid cue. Two possibilities: benefits: being in the right plant. Costs: being in the wrong place.

Critique of attenuation

Preattentive analysis is more complex than Broadbent's filter theory. If filter is so complex then does it make things simpler. Why not process everything.

Triesmans theory on visual search

Preattentive=pop out. Otherwise effortful. application: dial.

The use of a machine that tracks the movement of one's eyes can help reveal the shifting of one's __________ attention. a. overt b. divided c. covert d. dichotic

a. overty: see attentional shifts by where eyes are looking. Covert: attentional shift cant be seen by observing the person. "look out of the corner of your eye"

According to Treisman's feature integration theory, the first stage of perception is called the __________ stage. a.preattentive b.feature analysis c.letter analysis d.focused attention

a. stages: preattentive stage (analyze into features) focused attention stage (combine features)

During a visit to the local museum, you appreciate the incredible beauty of the paintings displayed. Your ability to see the paintings as complete pictures rather than individual, disconnected dots of color, texture, and location occurs through a process called __________. a. binding b. proximity c. accommodation d. contiguity

a. Binding The process by which features are combined to create our perception of a coherent object.

Which of the following best describes the result of attention in the context of perception? a.filtration b.enhancement c.accuracy d.warping

a. X

Inattention blindness

attention is so engaged you miss something else. Inattentional blindness is the failure to see a stimulus, such as an object that is present in a visual field. However, change blindness is the failure to notice something different about a visual display.

Imagine that lawmakers are considering changing the driving laws and that you have been consulted as an attention expert. Given the principles of divided attention, in which of the following conditions would a person have the most difficulty with driving and therefore pose the biggest safety risk on the road? a. When the driver is stuck in stop-and-go traffic. b. When the person is driving an unfamiliar vehicle that is more difficult to operate. c. When the person has to drive to work early in the morning. d. When the driver has to park in a crowded parking garage.

b.

Imagine that lawmakers are considering changing the driving laws and that you have been consulted as an attention expert. Given the principles of divided attention, in which of the following conditions would a person have the most difficulty with driving and therefore pose the biggest safety risk on the road? a. When the person has to drive to work early in the morning. b. When the person is driving an unfamiliar vehicle that is more difficult to operate. c. When the driver is stuck in stop-and-go traffic. d. When the driver has to park in a crowded parking garage.

b.

Research on the use of cell phones while driving indicates that a. the negative effect can be decreased by using "hands-free" units. b.the main effect of cell phone use on driving safety can be attributed to the fact that attention is used up by the cognitive task of talking on the phone. c.the public perception that using a cell phone while driving poses a significant risk to drivers' safety is, in fact, incorrect. d.the problem with cell phones is that attention is distracted from the task of driving by the need to hold the phone and drive with one hand.

b.

Strayer and Johnston's (2001) experiment involving simulated driving and the use of "hands-free" versus "handheld" cell phones found that a. driving performance was impaired only with the handheld cell phones. b. talking on either kind of phone impairs driving performance significantly and to the same extent. c. driving performance was impaired less with the hands-free phones than with the handheld phones. d. divided attention (driving and talking on the phone) did not affect performance.

b.

Attention and control

divided attention, use of multiple sources of information. (Selective: picking 1 from multiple). Almost always switching back and forth between tasks. Based on complication/task dificulty

Nakayama FEATURES

features can be easily be conjoined. Moved away from describing the difference as being serial or parallel. Efficient vs inefficient search.

Driving and phones

more likely to commit traffic violations. No effect on speed or steering on a test track, impaired judgment of gaps. Hands free vs handheld: both impaired, slight advantage for hands free but sometimes handheld compensate more. Phones vs other things: radio doesn't impact like phone. In person conversations re modulated by driving difficulty

Time and multitasking

unlimited time=takes longer, you control the pace. Limited time: do worse: can't control pace.

Change Blindness

visual disturbance stops attention going to the location of change. change is introduced and observer is aware.

What you look at is not what you see

what you attend to is what you receive. Neisser (1979): watch how many times throw ball, miss person walkin in middle. Change blindness. SImons and Levin: Door study, didnt realize person giving directions changed.

Stroop Effect Review: MacLeod (1991)

•Origin with Cattell (1886)-words named faster than objects •Stroop (1935)-switched emphasis to interference from contradictory information. -Conc: processing world beyond what trying to select.

Current thinking on attention

-Early modification with the ability of unattended items to survive the selection process -Task load influences how much information survives early selection

Early Notions of Attention

James (1890): everyone knows what attention is. Early studies: very little progess: ask question of introspection and attending two things at once. Hal Pashler (1998) no one knows what attention is.

Evidence for demand of task

Rees, Frith, &Lavie (1997). Varied processing load of central linguistic element•Motion of irrelevant (distractor) stimuli•fMRI looking at V5 activity. Supports high load: early, low load: late.

Suppose you are in your kitchen writing a grocery list, while your roommate is watching TV in the next room. A commercial for spaghetti sauce comes on TV. Although you are not paying attention to the TV, you "suddenly" remember that you need to pick up spaghetti sauce and add it to the list. Your behavior is best predicted by which of the following models of attention? a. Spotlight b. Late selection c. Early selection d. Object-based

b. Late section model: proposed that most of the incoming information is processed to the level of meaning before the message to be further processed is selected.