Week 4 - Focus
Fear contracts awareness.
According to Dr. Davidson in the Ezra Klein interview, which of the following is true about awareness?
the things that are relevant to accomplishing the goals that emerge from your system of values.
If you alter your system of values, it will certainly change your attention because you generally pay attention to
We have at least some choice over the values that we choose, and if we emphasize a particular framework of values, we will probably act in accord with the goals that emerge from those values.
In terms of your frameworks of values and the goals that emerge from them, which of these statements is true? Correct!
is important for voluntary attention. is especially associated with system 2. involves primarily cortical regions of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC). may be involved in regulating a "bottom up" response.
In the context of attention, a "top down" process...
The corresponding circuits are like unused muscles that can atrophy. A sailboat that can get blown around by the wind.
On the Ezra Klein podcast excerpt, Dr. Davidson likened attention to which of these?
"Attention" refers to the process of holding an object in awareness in a way that makes it available for action. It is a complex process that can be "decomposed" into numerous sub-processes. The distinction between System 1 (hot/fast) and System 2 (cold/slow) is relevant.
Topic of attention
It is focus that is locked into a single goal and therefore is inflexible.
What is "unbalanced focus"?
It occurs automatically.
Which of these is NOT true of "voluntary attention"?
We only attend to objects that are relevant to our engagement in the world. It occurs so as to make an objects available for action. It involves evaluation.
Which of these is true of attention?
A bottom up process is usually unconscious. A bottom up process is involved when we react automatically to stimuli (such as a loud sound) that may threaten our survival. A bottom up process is driven primarily by subcortical regions in the brain.
Which of these statements applies to a "bottom up" process in the context of attention?
