Chapter 11 – Attention

Attention is fundamental for most of our daily lives. However, there are limits to our attention, meaning that we cannot attend to all information that we encounter. This chapter examines focused attention, considering theories of attention, whether we can attend to some information and ignore others, and then what happens to unattended information. It then considers visual search, referring to situations in which we need to search our environment to find a particular target. The focus then shifts to divided attention, sometimes referred to as multitasking. The chapter asks whether we can successfully complete several tasks simultaneously, and what factors might influence our ability to do so. Finally, the chapter examines failures in attention, which may occur due to temporal limitations in attention, or an inability to detect an unexpected or changed stimulus due to being selectively focussed on another. The chapter presents research conducted in several domains and highlights the importance of developing an understand of the mechanisms of attention.

Chapter 11 – Introduction

Transcript

  • Chapter 11- Flashcards

    Focused attention

    The ability to attend to one source of information whilst ignoring others

    Divided attention

    the ability to attend to two or more tasks simultaneously

    The cocktail party phenomenon

    The finding that people can attend to just one source of auditory information amongst multiple streams

    Dichotic listening

    A technique involving the simultaneous presentation of two different spoken messages, one to each ear

    Late selection

    The idea that the filter for attention occurs late in the stream of information processing

    Early selection

    The idea that the filter for attention occurs early in information processing

    Endogenous attention

    attention controlled by our goals and intentions (sometimes called top-down attention)

    Exogenous attention

    attention captured by encountered stimuli (sometimes referred to as bottom-up attention)

    Spatial cuing paradigm

    A paradigm in which a cue is used to direct attention before relevant targets are presented

    Zoom-lens model

    a theory of visual attention assuming that an individual can increase or decrease the area of focussed attention at will, in a similar manner to adjusting a zoom lens

    Multiple spotlight theory

    a theory of visual attention which assumes we can split attentional focus, focussing on two or more regions of space that are not adjacent

    Feature integration theory

    a theory of visual attention suggesting that individual features of objects (such as size or colour) are processed preattentively, but that attention is required to integrate these features into complete objects

    Ventriloquism effect

    a demonstration of the effect of lip movements on auditory perception, involving someone trying to speak without moving their lips, resulting in the perception that speech is being produced by a nearby dummy

    Central capacity theory

    a theory of divided attention suggesting that we cannot complete two tasks simultaneously because they compete for a limited capacity attentional resource

    Multiple-resources account

    a theory of divided attention assuming that different tasks can employ separate pools of resources, so two tasks can sometimes be completed simultaneously

    Controlled processes

    Cognitive processes which require attention, and therefore for which there is a limited capacity

    Automatic processes

    Cognitive processes which do not require attention and therefore for which there is no capacity limitation

    Attentional blink

    The finding that participants often fail to report the second of two targets that appear within 200ms to 500ms of each other, therefore demonstrating temporal limitations with attention

    Inattentional blindness

    The failure to detect an unexpected object or event in a visual display, occurring when there are several stimuli and an individual becomes selectively focussed on only one

  • Chapter 11 – Weblinks

Chapter 11 – Quiz

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