Attention Flashcards
(35 cards)
Attention definition
Attention is the mental process of focusing on certain information or tasks while ignoring other things. It helps us concentrate on what’s important and filter out distractions.
Attention - evolutionary perspective
The brain cannot process everything in the environment in our sensory areas - limited capacity to what we can pay attention to
Suggested that over time, we have evolved in a way that the brain can selectively focus on particular things and ignore other things - allows for survival
Focused/selective attention
The brain’s ability to prioritise the relevant sensory inputs
Focusing on one specific task and ignoring distractors
Divided attention/multitaksing
Process different information sources and carry out two or more tasks in the same general time
What three possible forms does the brain represent stimuli in the environment as
Target
Unprocessed stimuli
Distractors
Target stimuli
The stimuli which we attend to
Unprocessed stimuli
The stimuli not processed - Makes its way through the sensory areas but doesn’t reach the higher levels of processing and consciousness
Distractors
The stimuli which is suppressed - in your conscious awareness but not processing enough to go into further processing
What two ways does selective attention help target processing
- Target enhancement - cortical representations of targets that are behaviourally relevant are enhanced (increased cortical activity in the brain to focus on the target)
- Distractor suppression - suppressing the representations of stimuli that are irrelevant
Exogenous orienting
Directing attention in response to an external stimulus - Attention captured automatically by external stimulus e.g. bright flash / loud noise
Doesn’t require conscious effort because something has caused you to look in that direction
Endogenous orienting
Intentional direction of attention to a predetermined location - Attention is deliberately directed to something based on your goals and expectations - something you want to look at e.g. looking for your friend in a crowd
Slower - required conscious effort
Overt attention
Process of shifting attention from one place to another by moving the eyes
Allows full processing of the stimulus = foveation (central vision)
Covert attention
Happens when attention is shifted without moving the eyes
In the periphery - Something we are sort of paying attention to, but because we haven’t been overtly looking at it, not giving it its full attention.
Focused auditory attention
A cognitive process which enables the listener to focus selectively on the stimulus of interest and ignoring other info - it is a conscious selection
Why is auditory segmentation usually harder than visual segmentation
Considerable overlap of signals from different sound sources in the cochlea whereas visual objects typically occupy different retinal regions
McDermott (2009) - focused auditory attention
There are two problems that listeners face when attending to one voice among many:
- Sound segregation - putting together sounds and figuring out which sounds belong together (machine based)
- Post-segregation - Deciding which sounds to focus on and which to ignore
Dichotic Listening Task
Cherry, 1953
Commonly used to investigate selective hearing/attention and the lateralisation of brain function within the auditory system
People listened to two different sounds or messages, one in each ear, at the same time. They were asked to focus on and repeat only the message in one ear while ignoring the other
What did Cherry’s Dichotic Listening Task show
That people can focus on one message and ignore the other, but they mostly only notice basic things from the ignored message—like if it’s a loud noise or their own name—but not the detailed meaning. This helped prove that our attention can filter out most information we’re not focusing on.
Cherry’s Cocktail Party Phenomenon
1953
Brain has the ability to focus on one auditory stimulus and can filter out other stimuli in noisy environments such as a party
However, sometimes something important, like hearing your own name in another conversation, can suddenly catch your attention
This shows that some unattended information can still be noticed.
What is attention control mediated by
Top-down and Bottom-up processes
There is an interaction between the dorsal (top-down) and ventral (bottom-up) stream
Top down attention
Dorsal attention system
This is like your brain’s focus mode - helps you pay attention to something on purpose
It lets you choose what to focus on based on your goals, expectations or your previous knowledge of something
Example of top-down attention
Looking for a friend in a crowd - focusing on previous knowledge (you know what your friend looks like) and ignoring distractions
Bottom-up attention
Ventral attention system
Works like an alarm - takes over when something in the environment grabs your attention unexpectedly e.g. a loud bang
This system automatically shifts your focus when something important happens
Where is the dorsal attention system happening in the brain
This system starts in the frontal lobes of the brain where all of the decision stuff is happening and connects to the parietal lobes which helps to direct attention
