concept of threshold

Ulrich Neisser

1. an early, pre-attention process focus on accepting or filtering out incoming messages only on crude physical aspects, such as speaker's voice quality, etc. This is the filtering aspect of attention. 2. But then a more active attention process works to bring the message up to the meaning threshold.

enhanced attention and working memory

According to theory, working memory includes input from conventional memory (from within) and sensory input (from without). Extended Context is drawn here, involving both Also inputs from autobiographical memory are available.

top down

Assuming the stimulus has passed the physical threshold, a stimulus will pass the meaning threshold if it fits (calls up) expectations set by previous knowledge and by an ongoing apprehension of the present moment (context, just processed information, etc). Expectations, previous knowledge, etc. are personal history scripts, like the general scripts (Schank & Abelson) we employ to understand utterances about our world. Access of relevant previous personal knowledge also depends on the apprehension of the present context, in that words and phrases may access several divergent contexts simultaneously.

information as change

Basically any change in a stimulus is information about our environment. Information is arousing and may grab our attention. The nervous system has physiological mechanisms to accentuate small changes. Ex. edges, such as a door frame, picture frame, any object set off from the background. Sudden noises, words with pauses between them, and so on. Basically any lack of change or repetition of a stimulus in uninformative. Lack of change is not arousing. Redundancy is a word we used to describe a lack of change. Ex. A wall with no windows, fog, white noise, fans, electrical hum, traffic noise...

signal to noise ratio

If high (signal more intense than background noise), then the signal is easy to detect, but if low, where the noise nearly masks the signal, then the signal may be difficult to detect. Example: to hear music (signal) while traveling on a subway or in a car with excessive road noise (noise) requires that one turns up the volume of the music so as make the signal to noise ratio more favorable. (in the days of 78 rpm or LP records, very quiet passages of music (signal) had to amplified so they could be heard over the 'rumble' of the turntable and surface noise of the record (noise), but very loud passages had to have lower amplification so as to keep the stylus in the groove.

degree of similarity between target signal and noise

It is easier to locate a target if it is salient (i.e., different from from the distractors (the noise)). a black dot in a pattern of red dots vs. a black dot in a pattern of black squares. A woman's voice speaking in a group of men's voices vs. a woman's voice speaking in a group of slightly different sounding other women

volume

The amplitude of perceived sound is measured in decibels, with 0 at the bottom. Perceived loudness approximately doubles every time the physical intensity goes up 10 decibels..

filter theories of attention

The goal of most theories is to identify what aspects of the 'shadowed' ear pass through the filter of attention. Early theorists (e.g., Cherry or Broadbent) suggested that only physical attributes of the shadowed ear get through. These would be relative volume, pitch, maybe sex of the speaker, but not semantics (word meaning, grammar, even the language spoken). However, later revisions have noted that important messages may sneak through the filter, such as one's name.

Daniel Kahneman

Thinking Fast and Slow posits to systems of thought system one and two

structure of behavior

Though initiated by conscious purpose or will, longer repetitive behavioral sequences, such as typing, writing, speaking may become habitual and therefore be executed without a lot of conscious initiation or excessive monitoring. Sometimes, however, even well learned behaviors can be disrupted, ultimately rendering them incorrect or incomplete due to sudden changes or distractions in the environment or due to internal changes, such as fatigue, fever, intoxication, anxiety, age, etc.

bottom up perspective

Whether or not a message is ultimately meaningful, it cannot be 'received' unless the stimulus exceeds the physical threshold (both in amplitude and acceptable frequency). This is a ...but for a stimulus to be meaningful it must exceed the MEANING THRESHOLD which is essentially TOP DOWN. or you hear the voice over the loudspeaker but can't understand it due to the background noise again FAILURE TO REACH THE MEANING THRESHOLD. Therefore the threshold for the meaning of the stimulus is ultimately as important too. This threshold can be modified by attention processes.

system two

also at the conscious level is for thinking SLOW it is measured rational less emotional less immediately confident suffers from distraction but less prone to error if all steps are followed method can be trained but requires training of focus and concentrations as well as procedures more rule bound ALGORITHMIC could be well though out solution to a problem probably right ex.long multistage thought processes, such as that in solving a logic puzzle wording a long complex sentence. playing chess

salience

an item is diff when it is some respect not similar yet in order to be perceives as diff one needs a notion of same this is top down everything we process is compared with our vast store of previous experiences. we label and item as SALIENT when the difference is noticeable and makes a diff in some aspect of sensory/ emotional procession. in a list of words a salient word is a word that is diff in some important way from the other words on the list. there are many ways in which a word can be salient.

medium

as time passes chartersictics of this.. on which the meaningful info was carried may then be discarded forgotten only the meaning remains. in addition to the loss of the verbatim text is probably that the source is lost this is called SOURCE AMNESIA what remains may be incorporated into existing meaningful structures perhaps updating these or retained actively as a prospective memory

physical threshold

can also be placed on either side of the frequency distribution of a medium. Thus, regardless of their amplitude, certain frequencies will be outside of the range of the receptor system (ex. frequency of light waves, frequency of sound waves). This is sometimes called an Absolute threshold.

anxiety

causes distraction because of the inability to control the arousal necessary to distinguish between the important stimulus and the unimportant stimulus is missing. ADHD persons usually have anxiety as an underlying factor.

system two greatest hits

clicks in when one ins confronted by a more complex task more so if the task is costly in therms of the cost of making mistakes (time money reputation life). ex. performing complex surgical procedures even more complex if issue is life threatening, defusing a land mine, writing and editing the wording of longer complex sentences

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

flow the psychology of optimal experience defines a flow state as containing several elements it involves a challenging activity that requires skills the activity should be not too simple therefore boring nor too complex therefore possibly frustrating. an engaging activity sometimes creative or just pleasurable. activity has clear goals and feedback one gains satistifation thru successful progress goals can be internally generated. concentrations on the task at hand attention is natural and effortless not forces. an altered time sense and state of mid euphoria experiences. w/all of the above comes a loss of self conscious.

DMN relax

however when time pressures commerce with the outside world relaxes when systems one and 2 the dmn can also relax their control on input processing the doors open to other mental experiences most importantly imagination , creating, metacognitive musing, daydreaming , remembering your personal past, musing about you're future. cognitively drifting, dreaming, probably also flow. note that these mental states are also often outside the rigid construct of time. our sense of self is also here which makes you unique different from all others and separated from nature.

attention

involves focus, both behavioral and cognitive and arousal, which is controlled internally. A lack of arousal, as in fatigue, will compromise focus is controlled by us from within; however, attention can be grabbed by sudden change from without and increase arousal. From within implies top-down processing, including such phenomena as 'search' and 'scanning' for a stimulus and 'selective attention.' From without implies bottom-up processing.

threshold

is a conceptual boundary that separates 'not experienced' from 'experienced' in the sense of conscious experience. We usually think of distinguishing 'below threshold' (undetected) from 'above threshold.' Some thresholds are defined by the frequency of the stimulus and then by the amplitude of the stimulus (as in light and sound); a subliminal or supraliminal stimulus on either dimension will not have sufficient characteristics to evoke a response (or create a difference). These apply within the experienced range

habituation

is a condition of shutting down our attention (i.e., filter out sensory input) due to lack of change in the input, as in habituation to smells, sounds, taste, or touch. In a circular manner, we consciously increase redundancy (turn off lights, have constant noise on, blankets, etc.) so that the fatigue from habituation helps us fall asleep; problem is when some these conditions are in the environment, we have no control over them, and we must stay awake, such as driving at night or in the fog, or studying in library. Hypnotic induction draws on habituation as a method. However, habituation to unchanging aspects of our environment, without excessive fatigue, frees up our attention and allows us to attend consciously to other informative stimuli. We can ignore unchanging stimuli, relying on our attention mechanism to be 'grabbed' if a sudden change occurs.

flow

is an enjoyable state of attending a state of effortless concentration so deep that they lose their sense of time of themselves of their probs. their descriptions of the joy of that state are so compelling that mihaly has called it an OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE unlike concentration on a task one seeks to do creating a flow experience requires no exertion of self control adding to the pleasure of moment

system one

is at the conscious level it thinks FAST is more intuitive more emotional more gut reaction though likely to be instantaneous faster but it also unedited and therefore prone to biases and error more governed by HEURISTICS could be a sudden flash of insight but could be wrong. ex. Complete clichés or high associations, Detect emotional states in faces or in voice intonation, Understand simple sentences. it requires little mentation therefore faster but also more emotional because it relies on the MOTIONAL STATES OF CERTAINTY VS UNCERTAINTY as in i know this vs i don't it often results in the instant EXCITEMENT of getting it right or being SPONANTOUS the feelings of certainty is the source of i know this and the signal to act JEOPARDY capitalizes on this. probably involves the amylgdala our emotional center in the limbic area of the brain. but bc it is fast it relies on past frequently reheated impressions more likely to be stereotyped.

selective attention

is demonstrated whenever we attend to one stimulus and filter out ("unattend to") aspects of all other surrounding stimuli, aka "The Cocktail Party Problem." The classic experiment for this involves a dichotic listening task, with the instructions to 'shadow' the stimulus in one ear, while attending to the stimulus in the other. The subject must repeat what is said from the attended ear.

parados

it may feel right but may not be right. being all out for being wrong or acting inapprortiately will deflate the emotion of a state of certainty perhaps making one more hesitant to react quickly in the future,

salience example

it starts with the degree of similarity between the target signal and the noise it is easier to locate the target signal if it is salient diff from the distractors (aka the noise) other matters: and then there is signal detection theory STD which asks what are the parameters in deciding yes i detect the signal vs no i do not detect the signal. signal detection theory lists the possible outcomes and then assess the receiver operation characteristics which involves changing the costs vs rewards for the person.

Daniel Kahneman high rate

of information flow or high complexity (rapid change) in information can be both overwhelming, arousing, ultimately fatiguing to the system. Information comes into the system at a pace too fast to be processed meaningfully. This is now known as Jenny's slide Examples: Driving in Manhattan, 10th avenue or in a NASCAR race. Snowboarding or skiing, tightrope walking, risky gymnastics.

low rate

of information flow, highly redundant or low complexity (slow rate of change) will be underwhelming. Could be soothing and relaxing, but also possibly hypnotic and fatiguing. Examples: Driving in Maine at night or the southern part of the New Jersey Turnpike to Delaware. A big yawn! Listening to the rain on the window.

learning a new behavior

on the other side of the coin, will require effort to organize and constant repetition to fine tune the behavior such as playing musical instrument handwriting pronunciation of new sounds in learning we learn which muscles or skills are relevant and which muscles are not practice makes behavior more efficient practice makes perfect once learned and well practices we no longer talk about learning but rather the exercise of A Habit which is a well learned behavior that can be executed successfully with little or no conscious monitoring thus freeing consciousness to attend to other matters

DMN drop off activity

pushed further can usher in the experience of a loss of self perhaps a flood of unwanted emotions and childhood memories some have argued that the dmn function in he same way frued discussed with the concept of ego defense. it is thought that more primitive humans lived in a world less understood less predicable less uncertain more magical in the - sense of the world see heinz warners the comparative psychology of mental development in which the mind of the child is compared to the mind of the primitive and the mind of psychotic "the pinnacle of human development is the achievement of a different self or ego and its imposition of order on the anarchy of a primitive mind buffeted my fears and wishes and given to various forms of magical thinking

fatigue

reverses the process of attention by lowering the arousal necessary to distinguish between the important and the unimportant.

autobiographical self

serves as the core of our identity and continuity. Following Martin Conway, a noted British psychologist, the autobiographical self lies near the organizational center of autobiographical memory, where self-defining memories are stored. These memories usually contain personal "themes" that give meaning to one's life. The themes are very often retrieved and revealed when stories about one's self are needed. also add is language for expression creative thinking and imagination for elaboration and possibilities and conscience for restraint

default mode network

system one and two of kahneman may also be called this, connects the emotional centers of the brain the temporal lobes and the hippocampus with parts of the frontal lobes and works to control and coordinate both the input from the senses and the output of the motor system coordinating these according to the PURPOSE. at hand it also blocks unnecessary and distracting emotion and thought content. uses a disproportional amount of the brains energy and is not completely functional until music later in the brains development among the last to mature

task risks

tasks with a greater risk of harm, loss, higher costs, etc. will receive more attention than less costly tasks.

DMN holds

the various processing components or the brain together in a top down marker coordinating as one matures psychologically thru higher order concepts as such self identity purpose goal plan and so on, by inhibiting unwanted emotions and intruding thoughts and memories the dmn controls mental content rendering us more productive and attentive to the moment. this is a good thing but over activity in the dmn may result in the hyper control of activities rigid thinking and narrow over controlled behaviors such as addiction self mutilation obsessive compulsive behaviors hoarding eating disorders and depression.

system one greatest hits

thinking fast and all improves with exercise. ex. quickly completing cliches or high associations, recognizing faces voices name bc they are well learned stimuli representations,

signal detection theory

what are the parameters in deciding yes, I detect the signal, vs. no, I do not detect the signal? this lists the possible outcomes and then assesses the Receiver Operating Characteristics, which involves changing the costs vs. rewards for the person.l could be a voice on the loudspeaker in the midst of the noise of the subway a false note in an orchestras performance a forgery of fine art a kidnapper in the surveillance videos. are they factors other than the reality that there is a better signal or there is not a signal what are the rewards of getting a hit what are the costs of making an error for whom are the rewards or costs