Attention Flashcards
Attention = ?
=Detection
=Search
=Rehearsal
- attending in right way transfers in2 LTM
=Dealing w/ mult channels of info
- Selective attention
- often several events (channels) that we could monitor
Serial Bottleneck
- Point at which it is no longer possible to continue processing multiple channels in parallel
- select what info to attend to & filter out rest (on/off switch)
Dichotic Listening Task
(Speech Shadowing)
- Ps presented with 2 messages over headphones
- Diff message delivered to each ear
- Instructed to shadow one (attended channel)
- “What can you remember about the unattended channel?”
Findings of Dichotic Listening Task
Ps could recall physical characteristics
- pure tone vs. human voice
- male or female
- when sex of the speaker changed
Ps could NOT recall meaning characteristics
- Language
- played backwards
- words/phrases
Early (physical) on/off switch,
Early Selection theories
- Multiple streams of info are processed in parallel based on phys char
- Only 1 channel selected for further processing; other sources are suppressed
- Meaning does not reach awareness for suppressed channels
Late Selection Theories
monitor for target word
- People can process multiple messages for meaning at same time
- shadow only one at a time
- Dich. listening results reflect limits w/ response system, not attention
- Late selection predicts similar detection for both messages
Early Selection Theory Challenges (4)
-
Cocktail party phenomenon
1/3 Ps noticed when their own names were spoken in unattended channel
(Meaning from unattended channel entered awareness) - When same voice was used for both channels, Ps still shadowed “to-be-attended” ear w/ reasonable success
- When meaning from attended ear transferred to unattended (same voice):
* Ps initially “followed the meaning” - When meaning derived from combined input of both channels (same voice):
* Ps recombined words based on semantic characteristics
Fixation
When eye is held still
Saccade
eye moves to place a new part of the environment in foveal vision
What determines where we choose to focus next?
- Top-down processing, which includes your goals
- Parafoveal preview: w/reading – length of the next word
- Motion/change: even in periphery (e.g., ambulance siren)
Overt Att.
Moving eyes (or ears) toward a stimulus
Covert Att.
Moving attention independently of where
eyes (or ears) are currently fixated
Input Att.
(stimulus-driven):
Automatic (often involuntary)
Orienting reflex: Redirection of attention toward unexpected/distinct stim.
Habituation: Gradual reduction of orienting response back to baseline
Controlled Att.
(goal-driven):
- Deliberate, voluntary
- Slower (consumes more resources)
- tasks might require controlled att. After practice become automatic.
Disjunction vs. conjunction search
Disjuction= (single feature) search “Pop out”
ex: Search for a red letter
Conjunction=mult feat search. Serial search (one by one).
ex: search for red O
