ATTENTION

Question 1

What is attention according to William James?

Answer 1

Selecting relevant information to manage sensory input

Question 2

Why is attention important?

Answer 2

Without attention, we would have too much information resulting in cognitive overload

Question 3

What did Cherry 1953 discover in dichotic listening?

Answer 3

People process unattended info only shallowly (can notice gender or tone, not meaning)

Question 4

What is broadbent’s filter model (1958)?

Answer 4

Early selection model, sensory info is filtered early, only one stream is processed deeply

Question 5

What is the cocktail party phenomenon by Moray (1959)?

Answer 5

You notice your own name in an unattended channel (problem for Broadbent’s early filter)

Question 6

What is Treisman’s Attenuation Model (1960)?

Answer 6

Unattended info is weakened not blocked. High priority words are still noticed because of low recognition threshold

Question 7

What is Deutsch and Deutsch’s late selection model (1963)?

Answer 7

All info processed to meaning, selection happens after meaning analysis (in short-term memory)

Question 8

What is negative priming (Allport et al., 1985)?

Answer 8

Ignored info is suppressed (not discarded), slower to process later

Question 9

What is Kahneman’s Capacity Theory (1973)

Answer 9

-attention is a limited resource
-no fixed bottleneck (not enough capacity is what leads to failure)
-capacity is affected by task difficulty, arousal, individual ability, intention

Question 10

What did Johnston and Heinz 1978 show with dual-task experiments?

Answer 10

When the 2nd task was harder, there was a worse 1st task performance, tasks share attentional pool

Question 11

What is the zoom lens model (laberge 1983)?

Answer 11

-focus can expand (wide) or narrow (small)
-wide focus is slower and less precise

Question 12

What did Müller 2003 confirm?

Answer 12

Wider focus is slower and has less efficient processing (supporting the zoom lens model)

Question 13

What did Awh and Pashler 2000 show about multiple spotlights?

Answer 13

Attention can split over non-contagious areas (multiple spotlights)

Question 14

What’s the key takeaway about focused visual attention?

Answer 14

Attention is flexible- spotlight, zoom lens, multiple spotlights depending on the situation

Question 15

What is feature integration theory (Treisman and Gelade 1980)

Answer 15

A two stage process
-pre-attentive parallel processing of features (fast) automatically and in parallel
-focused attention binds features into objects (serial, slower)

Question 16

What are the two types of search tasks in feature integration theory?

Answer 16

-feature search: fast, display size doesn’t matter (pop-out effect)
-conjugation search: slow, display size matters, needs attention

Question 17

According to Posner and Snyder (1975), what is the difference between automatic and controlled processing?

Answer 17

Automatic:
-unintentional
-fast
-uses little capacity
-not conscious

Controlled:
-intentional
-slow
-uses much capacity
-conscious

Question 18

How does practice affect attention demand?

Answer 18

Practice reduces demand, tasks become more automatic, less attention is needed

Question 19

What is the stroop task (stroop, 1935)?

Answer 19

Name ink colour, ignore written word

Question 20

What causes conflict in the stroop task?

Answer 20

Conflict between automatic word reading vs controlled colour naming

Question 21

What happens to performance when the stroop task is incongruent?

Answer 21

Slower reaction times and more errors

Question 22

Why is the stroop task important for our understanding of attention and automaticity?

Answer 22

Conflict resolution is effortful. Shows how attention is needed to override automatic processes

Question 23

What is a criticism of Broadbent’s filter model (1958)?

Answer 23

Fails to explain the cocktail party effect- the idea that unattended info isn’t fully blocked

Question 24

What is a criticism of treisman’s attentuation model?

Answer 24

Doesn’t specify exactly how much unattended info leaks through- vague about how the attenuation threshold works in practice

Question 25

What’s a criticism of deutsch and deutsch late selection model?

Answer 25

Processing everything to meaning is inefficient and wasteful of resources, unlikely the brain would always do this

Question 26

What’s a criticism of kahneman’s capacity theory?

Answer 26

Too general/descriptive- doesn’t specify exactly mechanisms for how resources are allocated

Question 27

What’s a criticism of feature integration theory?

Answer 27

Real world attention is more flexible than just 2 stages Evidence Awh and Pashler people can split attention between locations so doesn’t fit near spotlight/serial binding area

Question 28

Why does the stroop task matter for attention theories?

Answer 28

Shows automatic vs controlled processing directly compete, conflict resolution needs effort, shows interplay between attention and authority

Question 29

What did inattentional blindness (Simons and Chabris 1999) show?

Answer 29

When focused on a task, people miss obvious stimuli

Question 30

What is Balint’s syndrome?

Answer 30

Patients with parietal lobe damage struggle with conjunction searches, supporting Feature Integration Theory

Question 31

What is conjunction search?

Answer 31

Finding a red O among red Ts and green Os is slow and effortful

Question 32

What are illusory conjunctions?

Answer 32

When briefly shown a red triangle and green circle, people might report a “red circle” if attention is disrupted, proving features can be miscombined

Question 33

What is the neuroscience backing for feature integration theory?

Answer 33

Brain imaging shows different areas process features (e.g. V4 for colour, V5 for motion) before being integrated in the parietal lobe

Question 34

What did Johnston and Heinz (1978) show about attentional selection?

Answer 34

Selection is flexible. Early filtering under high load, late filtering under low load

Question 35

How does attention influence awareness and confidence?

Answer 35

Attention shapes not just filtering but also awareness and confidence; unattended info can still influence behaviour without awareness (Kentridge et al. 2004)

Question 36

How does perceptual load affect attention in real life (driving example)?

Answer 36

In high load tasks like driving, irrelevant distractions are filtered early. In relaxed settings, more irrelevant information is noticed

Question 37

What is multiple resource theory (Wickens)

Answer 37

Suggests there are separate pools of attentional resources for different modalities (visual vs auditory), refining the idea of a single resource pool

Question 38

How does the stroop task challenge capacity theories?

Answer 38

Stroop interference persists even when spare capacity is available, suggesting not all tasks compete for the same resource pool

Question 39

How might capacity theories oversimplify resource types?

Answer 39

Evidence from multiple resource theory shows visual and auditory tasks don’t always interfere equally, implying more than one type of attentional resource pool

Question 40

How is attentional effort measurable?

Answer 40

Kahneman et al showed pupil dilation increases with cognitive task difficulty, providing a physiological marker of attentional effort

Question 41

What is top down attention?

Answer 41

Goal-driven, voluntary attention where focus is directed by expectations or task goals (e.g. searching for friend in a crowd)

Question 42

What is bottom-up attention?

Answer 42

Stimulus-driven, involuntary attention where attention is captured automatically by salient stimuli (e.g. a loud bang)