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Chapter 4 Attention

Chapter 4 Attention Attention Defining Attention

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  • 1. Chapter 4 Attention
  • 2. Attention
    • Defining Attention
    • Input Attention
    • Selective Attention
    • Attention as a Resource
    • Neuropsychology
  • 3. Attention
    • What do we mean by attention?
      • What does it mean to pay attention
      • How much control do we have over our attention
      • Why are some things easy to pay attention to and other so hard
  • 4. Attention (William James, 1890)
    • Every one knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others
  • 5. Attention
    • We are constantly confronted with more information than we can pay attention to
    • There are limitations on how much we can attend to at one time
    • We can perform some tasks with little attention
    • With practice, some tasks become less demanding of our attentional processes
  • 6. Definitions of Attention
    • The mental PROCESS that allows us to select relevant information and filter out irrelevant information
      • Concentrating effort on a stimulus
      • An activity within the cognitive system
  • 7. Definitions of Attention
    • The LIMITED mental RESOURCE that allows us to optimize our processing of certain information
      • Mental fuel
      • A resource necessary to run the cognitive system
      • E.g. Rush hour traffic & cell phone
  • 8. Attention
    • Defining Attention
    • Input Attention
    • Selective Attention
    • Attention as a Resource
    • Neuropsychology
  • 9. Input Attention
    • The basic process of getting sensory information into the cognitive system
      • Seems automatic
      • Very fast
      • Alertness & Arousal
      • Reflexive Attention
      • Spotlight Attention
  • 10. Alertness & Arousal
    • Capacity to respond to the environment
    • Necessary for explicit processing
      • Processes involving conscious awareness that the task is being performed
      • e.g, memorizing a word list
  • 11. Alertness & Arousal
    • May NOT be necessary for implicit processing
      • Processing with no conscious awareness
      • e.g., reading text faster a second time even though you do not remember reading it
  • 12. Cognition Without Attention (Bonnebakker et al., 1996)
    • Gave a list of words during anesthesia
    • Gave an implicit memory test (word stem completion) after anesthesia
    • Showed implicit memory for words heard while under anesthesia
    • Implicit memory is VERY limited
  • 13. Reflexive Attention
    • Orienting toward an unexpected stimulus (location-finding response)
    • Reflexive response
      • Important for survival
      • Present very early in life
      • Response to stimuli that are important or novel
    • Over time, cease to be interesting Habituation
      • A gradual reduction of the orienting response
  • 14. Spotlight Attention
    • Attention is like a beam of light:
      • Information inside the beam is easier to process
      • Information outside the beam is harder to process
      • Mental shift of attentional focus visual attention
  • 15. Spotlight Attention
    • The mental attention-focusing mechanism that prepares you to encode stimulus information
      • Cognitive process deliberate
    • Measure with:
      • Spatial Cuing Task (Posner)
      • Visual Search Task (Triesman)
  • 16. Spatial Cueing Task (Posner et al.,1980)
  • 17. Posner et al. (1980) Responses were faster after a valid cue Facilitation Responses were slower after an invalid cue Inhibition Mean Response Time (ms) Cue Type
  • 18. Your Data from Coglab!
  • 19. Triesman & Gelade (1980)
    • Visual search for a target
    • Disjunctive search
      • Target different from distractors in ONE feature (e.g., color or shape T or bold)
    • Conjunctive search
      • Target was a combination of TWO features (e.g., color and shape bold T)
  • 20. Visual Search Task Disjunctive Search Conjunctive Search Disjunctive Search
  • 21. Visual Search # Distractors Mean Response Time (ms)
  • 22. Feature Integration Theory (attention as glue to bind features together)
    • Disjunctive Search
      • No increase in RT across the display sizes
      • Visual search occurs in PARALLEL across the region of visual attention
      • Search is automatic Popout Effect
  • 23. Feature Integration Theory (attention as glue to bind features together)
    • Conjunctive search
      • Increase in RT across the display sizes
      • Search is SERIAL (one-by-one)
        • Attention can be only on one object at a time
        • Conscious, deliberate act
  • 24. Your Data from Coglab
  • 25. Attention
    • Defining Attention
    • Input Attention
    • Selective Attention
    • Attention as a Resource
    • Neuropsychology
  • 26. Attention
    • Input
    • Fast, automatic processes of attention
    • Early stages of feature detection
    • Data-driven
    • Selective
    • Slower, conscious attention
    • Voluntary allocation of mental effort pay attention
    • Conceptually-driven
  • 27. Selective Attention
    • The ability to attend to one source of information while ignoring other messages
      • Filtering
    • Vision --?
    • Hearing --?
      • Selective attention in hearing is purely a cognitive process
  • 28. Selective Attention
    • Cherry (1953)
      • How do we pay attention to what one person is saying when we are surrounded by other messages?
      • Dichotic shadowing task
        • Two messages are presented one to each ear
        • Shadow the message in one ear (repeat)
        • Ignore the message in the other ear
  • 29. Selective Attention
    • Cherry (1953)
      • Subjects could NOT report the content from the unattended ear/channel
        • Did not notice if the language changed
      • Did notice if the voice changed
        • Male to female; human to tone
  • 30. To Do List
    • Attention as a filter
      • Broadbents Filter Model
      • Triesmans Attenuation Model
      • Deutsch & Deutsch Late Selection Model
      • Normans Pertinence Model
      • Johnston & Heinz Multimode Model
  • 31. Outside world Physical processing Semantic processing STM (awareness)
  • 32. Theory 1: Broadbents Filter Theory (1958)
    • The filter is tuned to ONE message based on physical characteristics (e.g., loudness or pitch)
    • Only one message goes through the filter
    • Therefore, only information in the attended message can influence performance
  • 33. Broadbents Filter Theory (1958)
  • 34. Outside world Physical processing Semantic processing STM (awareness)
  • 35. Theory 1: Broadbents Filter Theory (1958)
    • Filter goes between physical and semantic processing
    • Early selection
      • Explains Cherrys (1953) data
      • Does not explain how we often notice unattended info
  • 36. The Cocktail Party Phenomenon
    • Moray (1959)
      • Dichotic shadowing task
      • Subjects noticed if their name appeared in the unattended channel
      • According to Broadbents model only attended information is available for cognitive processing but unattended information somehow slips past the filter!
  • 37.
    • Dichotic shadowing task
      • Physical differences between the two messages were removed
        • Same speaker recorded both messages
      • Not possible to have early selection based on physical processing
      • Predictions?
    Treisman (1960)
  • 38.
    • Butfound that subjects could shadow very accurately!
    • Is selective attention based on semantic (meaning) content?
    • Dichotic shadowing task
      • Coherent message being shadowed switched to unattended channel
    Treisman (1960)
  • 39. Treisman (1960)
  • 40. Treisman (1960)
    • RIGHT EAR
    • The
    • Little
    • Puppy
    • Lives
    • At
    • The
    • While
    • On
    • Summer
    • Vacation
    • LEFT EAR
    • The
    • Slow
    • Car
    • Finally
    • Broke
    • Down
    • House
    • By
    • The
    • Park
  • 41. Treisman (1960)
    • Subjects switched to the message that completed the meaning of the sentence
    • Semantic elements of the unattended message is receiving some analysis
  • 42. Theory 2: Treismans Attenuation Theory (1960, 1964)
    • Middle Selection
      • Still Early Selection but leaky the pillow filter
        • Unattended information comes in more weakly than attended information
      • It is during the process of semantic analysis that we make our selection of messages top-down effect
  • 43. Outside world Physical processing Semantic processing STM (awareness)
  • 44. Theory 3: Deutsch & Deutsch (1963)
    • Late selection
      • Selection takes place after all messages have received full physical and semantic analysis
  • 45. Evidence for Late Selection
    • Leaks from the unattended channel
      • Triesman (1964)
      • Moray (1959)
    • Implicit processing
      • Corteen & Wood (1976)
  • 46. Theory 3: Deutsch & Deutsch (1963)
    • Corteen & Wood (1976)
      • Conditioned subjects to be afraid of a word (e.g., Amsterdam)
      • Presented the word in the unattended channel during shadowing
      • Measured GSR
      • Evidence for implicit processing
    • Everything is processed semantically, even if it does not reach awareness
  • 47. Outside world Physical processing Semantic processing STM (awareness)
  • 48. Theory 4: Normans Pertinence Model (1968)
    • No filter
    • Attention is the determined by:
      • Sensory activation
        • Loudness, distinctive voice
      • Pertinence
        • The importance of the information
  • 49. Normans Pertinence Model (1968)
  • 50. Theory 4: Normans Pertinence Model (1968)
    • All information comes into the perceptual system
    • Items with the highest combination of sensory and pertinence are selected for attention
    • Selective attention is a continuous process
  • 51. Summary
    • Selective attention can occur very early based on physical characteristics
    • It can occur late based on semantic content
    • It can be influenced by both permanent and temporary factors
    • ATTENTION IS FELXIBLE!!!
  • 52. Theory 5: Multimode Model
    • Johnston & Heinz (1978)
      • Attention is highly flexible process that can operate in multiple modes
        • Both early and late selection
      • Subjects listened to multiple messages that were
        • Physically different
        • Semantically different
        • Physically and semantically different
  • 53. Theory 5: Multimode Model
    • Remember information from the target message while monitoring a light
      • If selective attention is difficult (because of similarities of competing messages) this should slow detection of the light
  • 54. Johnston & Heinz (1978)
    • Having to listen to one message slowed down detection
    • Having to listen to two messages slowed down detection more
      • It took a little extra attention when given two types of cues
      • But, it took a lot more attention when only given one cue
        • Physical only (early selection)
        • Meaning only (late selection)
  • 55. Johnston & Heinz (1978) Number of Messages Cost (ms)
  • 56. Theory 5: Multimode Models
    • We alter the type of selection depending on task demands
      • But, later selection (semantic processing) uses more of our attentional capacity so it is slower and less accurate
  • 57. Attention
    • Defining Attention
    • Input Attention
    • Selective Attention
    • Attention as a Resource
    • Neuropsychology
  • 58. Attention as a Resource
    • Attention is mental effort
      • The mental resource that fuels cognitive activity
    • Attention is limited
      • Only so much of the fuel can be devoted to mental tasks
    • Contrast to automatic processes
  • 59. Attention as a Resource
    • As tasks become automatic they take fewer resources you can do more things at once
    • Brainstorm: Activities that are automatic (they used to take cognitive resources, but now they dont because of practice)
    • Can you increase the size of you pool of resources?
  • 60. The Stroop (1935) Task
      • RED BLUE GREEN YELLOW
      • YELLOW BLUE GREEN RED
    • Name the ink color (ignore the printed words)
    • Congruent
    • Incongruent
      • Interference
      • Word recognition is automatic, and it interferes with color naming
  • 61. The Stroop (1935) Task
  • 62. Your Coglab Data
  • 63. Automatic vs. Conscious (Posner & Snyder, 1975)
    • Automatic
    • Automatic
    • No access to consciousness
    • Consumes no (few) resources
    • Fast (no more than 1sec)
    • Conscious
    • Voluntary
    • Conscious
    • Requires lots of cognitive resources
    • Slow
  • 64. Practice and Automaticity
    • Practice can make a task more automatic
    • Everyday Examples:
      • Driving (today vs. at age 16)
      • Reading (today vs. at age 6)
    • Examples from Research:
      • Spelke, Hirst & Neisser (1976)
      • Shiffrin & Schneider (1977)
  • 65. Spelke, Hirst & Neisser (1976)
    • Gave subjects two difficult tasks
      • Reading out loud and taking diction
    • Lots of interference at first
    • With LOTS of practice, no interference
  • 66. Shiffrin & Schneider (1977)
    • Subjects given 1-4 letters (targets) to detect
      • e.g., B and R
      • YES, if target was in the frame (1-4 distractors)
    • Consistent mapping
      • Same targets from trial to trial (practice)
      • B & R
    • Varied mapping
      • Different targets from trial to trial
      • B & R; 2 &7; 3 & B; M& Z
  • 67. Shiffrin & Schneider (1977)
    • Should it be faster to search for 1 target or 4 targets?
    • Should it be faster if there is 1 distractor or 4 distractors?
  • 68. Shiffrin & Schneider (1977)
    • With practice
      • For consistent mapping, search rates were fast, regardless of how many targets or distractors automatic
      • For inconsistent mapping, search rates were longer for larger displays not automatic
        • Conscious, controlled processing because the stimuli they had to detect kept changing
  • 69. Shiffrin & Schneider (1977)
  • 70. Disadvantages of Automaticity
    • Barshi & Healy (1993)
      • Scanned multiplication problems for errors (multiple times)
      • Fixed-order condition
      • Varied-order condition
      • Fixed order: 55% detection rate
      • Varied order: 90% detection rate
  • 71. Disadvantages of Automaticity
    • Everyday Examples:
      • Landing a plane with no landing gear (1983)
      • Negative Transfer (In your new car, reaching for where the radio knob was on your old car)
  • 72. Attention
    • Defining Attention
    • Input Attention
    • Selective Attention
    • Attention as a Resource
    • Neuropsychology
  • 73. Neuropsychology
    • Mrs. S. (The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat Ch8)
      • What experiments would you do to help you understand her problem?
  • 74. Hemineglect
    • Disruption or decreased ability to pay attention to something in the (often) left-visual-field
      • Disorder of attention in which one half of the perceptual world is negelected
      • Cannot direct attention to half of the perceptual world (regardless of the modality of the stimulus)
      • Not sensory damage
  • 75. Patient with Hemineglect
  • 76. Hemineglect
    • Bisiach & Luzatti (1978)
      • Have patients image standing at one end of piazza and describe what they see
      • Can only describe buildings on the right, even when they imagine facing the opposite way (what they had previously omitted!)
      • Neglect occurs for internal mental representations
  • 77. Hemineglect
    • Duncan et al. (1999)
      • Patients with hemineglect can attend to stimuli in the neglected field if nothing is displayed in the right-visual-field
      • Ability dramatically reduced if a stimulus is present in the right-visual-field