Chapter 5: Paying Attention

Stroop interference

A classic demonstration of automatized in which research participants are asked to name the color of ink used to print a word and the word itself is the name of a different color. For example participants might see the word yellow printed in blue ink and be required to say blue. Considerable interference is observed in this task with participants apparently being unable to ignore the words content even though it is irrelevant to their task. 185

limited-capacity system

A group of processors in which mental resources are limited, so that extra resources supplied to one process must be balanced by a withdrawal of resources somewhere else--with the result that the total resources expended do not exceed the limit of what is available. 164

filter

A hypothetical mechanism that would block potential distractors from further processing. 152

exogenous control of attention

A mechanism through which attention is automatically directed, essentially as a reflex response, to some "attention grabbing" input. 172

inattentional blindness

A pattern in which perceivers seem literally not to see stimuli right in front of their eyes; this pattern is caused by the participants focusing their attention on some other stimulus and not expecting the target to appear. 154

goal neglect

A pattern of failing to organize behavior in a way that moves you toward your goals. Often the person relies on habitual responses even if those responses will not move him or her toward their goal. 182

unilateral neglect syndrome

A pattern of symptoms in which affected individuals ignore all inputs coming from one side of space. Individuals with the syndrome put only one of their arms into their jackets eat food from only half of their plates read only half of words and so on. 174

unattended channel

A stimulus or group of stimuli that a person is not trying to perceive. Ordinarily little information is understood or remembered from the unattended channel. Often contrasted with attended channel. 150

shadowing

A task in which research participants repeat back a verbal input word-for-word as they hear it. Echoing the atended channel 151

Which of the following scenarios is an example of attentional blink?

A waiter is telling two friends about the daily specials when a neighboring table erupts in laughter. The friends ask the waiter to repeat the last few items because their attention was diverted by the sudden loud laughs.

late selection hypothesis

All inputs received relatively complete analysis and selection occurs after the analysis's is finished. A proposal that selective attention operates at a late stage of processing so that the unintended inputs received considerable analysis. 157

mental resources

Some process or capacity needed for performance, but in limited supply. 164

Studying for an important exam while watching television is not very efficient because it is an example of:

Divided attention

expectation-driven priming

Deliberately priming detectors for inputs you think our upcoming so that you're ready for those inputs when they arrive Under your control 160

attended channel

Is stimulus or group of stimuli that a person is trying to perceive. Ordinarily information is understood or remembered from the attended channel. Often contrast it with the unattended channel. 150

change blindness

Observers inability to detect changes in scenes they're looking directly at. A pattern in which perceivers either do not see or take a long time to see large scale changes in a visual stimulus. This pattern reveals how little people perceive, even from stimuli in plain view, if they are not specifically attending to the target information. 155

dichotic listening

Participants in early studies of attention wore headphones and heard one input in the left ear and a different input in the right ear. 150

repetition priming

Priming produced by a prior and counter it with the stimulus. This type of priming takes no effort on your part and requires no resources and it's this sort of priming that enables you to hear your name on the unattended channel. The pattern of priming that occurs simply because a stimulus is presented a second time, processing is more efficient on the 2nd presentation. 160

The cocktail party phenomenon

Selective attention is sometimes referred to as the "cocktail party phenomenon." While attending a party, you can focus on the conversation you are having while largely ignoring all other conversations in the room and the clinking of glasses. The cocktail party phenomenon also suggests that while we are able to ignore irrelevant stimuli, relatively important stimuli such as our names are likely to stand out among the background noise

automaticity

Tasks that are well practiced and involve a little or no control. A state achieved by some tasks and some forms of processing in which a task can be performed with little or no. In many cases automatized actions can be combined with other activities without interference. automatized actions are also often difficult to control leading many psychologists to refer to them as "mental reflexes". 185

Being able to drive a car while you carry on a conversation with a friend in the passenger seat is explained by:

The ability to automatize driving and dedicate the majority of your attention to the conversation

early selection hypothesis

The attended input is priviledged from the start so that the unattended input received the little analysis and therefore is never perceived. A proposal that selective attention operates and an early stage of processing so that the unintended impacts received little analysis's. 157

endogenous control of attention

The mechanism through which a person chooses (often on the basis of some meaningful signal) where to focus attention. 172

spacial attention

The mechanism through which someone focuses on a particular position in space, So that he or she more efficiently processes any inputs from that region in space. 165

executive control

The mental resources and processes that are used to set goals, choose task priorities, and avoid conflict among competing habits or responses. 181

perseveration error

The pattern of responding in which a person produces the same response over and over even though the person knows that the task requires a change in response. This pattern is often observed in patients with brain damage in the frontal lobe. 182

divided attention

The skill of performing multiple tasks simultaneously. when our attentional resources are allocated to at least two tasks or pieces of information at once 178

selective attention

The skill through which a person focuses on one input or 1 task while ignoring other stimuli that are also on the scene. the ability to focus our attention on one event or piece of information, while blocking out background noise, or irrelevant stimuli 150

fixation target

The visual mark (a dot or a +) in which research participants point their eyes or fixate. Fixation targets help research participants to control their eye position. 153

attentional blink

a brief period after perceiving a stimulus, during which it is difficult to attend to another stimulus The attentional blink phenomenon is a manifestation of selective attention; when we focus on one event, it takes a moment or two to fully recover our information and shift it to a novel stimulus

Our attentional systems cope with the overwhelming amount of information that we encounter on a daily basis by engaging in selective attention, and by extension, the attentional blink.

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