Chapter 4 – Attention

Instructions: Using your textbook, complete the definitions/questions in italics, highlighted in yellow. Keep in mind it is your responsibility to learn all the information presented here – not just the parts you complete. They take the place of a traditional lecture and guide you through what you need to know for exams.

If at any point you are confused about the meaning of a question, please do not hesitate to reach out!

As you complete the definitions, keep in mind that copying directly from the textbook is not your best bet. You need to be able to apply these definitions. A good rule to remember is this – if you can’t explain a term/theory/etc., in your own words to another person, you don’t really understand it. Don’t be a copy machine – be a thinker!

For your grade on this assignment – you will separately turn in typed answers to questions indicated at the end of the assignment. Leave the question in your answers to make them easier to grade.

Videos on attention in general – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrpFJcthIY0; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4JBqLoY3tYSummaries of key concepts and mechanisms of attention.http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/05/attention-how-it-works-how-it-fails-and-how-to-improve-it.phpTerms from Roger’s Adventure with Attention

1.Attention – Define –

2.Selective attention– Define –

3.Distraction – Define –

4.Divided attention – Define –

5.Attentional capture – Define –

6.Visual scanning – Define –

I.Attention as Information Processing

Theories of selective attention – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpsaHE_uZic; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRPk-ynBOkI; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQlwWheRKOs; http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/students/arousal.htmA.Broadbent’s Filter Model of Attention – Define –

1.Dichotic listening – Define –

Dichotic listening – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-tQgfm2CAs2.Shadowing – Define –

3.What did dichotic listening experiments show?

4.Based on results such as these, Donald Broadbent (1958) created a model of attention designed to explain how it is possible to focus on one message and why information isn’t taken in from the other message. Explain the stages. WILL BE TURNED IN FOR A GRADE.B.Modifying Broadbent’s Model: More Early Selection Models

1.What did Mornay and other researchers find out about the processing of the unattended ear?

2.How did Treisman update Broadbent’s theory? Make sure to define all terms involved. WILL BE TURNED IN FOR A GRADE.

C.A Late Selection Model

1.Other theories were proposed to take into account the results of experiments showing that messages can be selected at a later stage of processing, based primarily on their meaning. What happened in MacKay’s experiment?

2.Late selection models of attention – Define –

II.Processing Capacity and Perceptual Load

A.Terms

1.Processing capacity – Define

2.Perceptual load – Define –

a.Low-load tasks – Define –

b.High-load tasks – Define –

B.Load Theory of Attention – Define –

Load theory – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv-ysL4LioY1.How does distraction work differently for low- and high-load tasks?

2.Explain the Stroop effect. WILL BE TURNED IN FOR A GRADE.Stroop effect (SO FRUSTRATING!!!) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reUic5tyVwoInteractive Stroop Effect Experiment

In this experiment, you are required to say the color of the word, not what the word says.

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/java/ready.htmlIII.Directing Attention by Scanning a Scene

A.Scanning a Scene with Eye Movements

1.Central vision – Define –

2.Peripheral vision – Define –

3.Fovea – Define –

4.Fixation – Define –

5.Saccadic eye movement – Define –

6.Overt attention – Define –

B.Scanning Based on Stimulus Salience

1.Stimulus salience— Define –

2.Saliency map – Define –

C.Scanning Based on Cognitive Factors –How is this different from scanning based on stimulus salience?

D.Scanning Based on Task Demands – How is this different from the other 2?

IV.Outcomes of Attention. Define covert attention –

A.Attention Improves Our Ability to Respond to a Location

1.What happened in Posner’s study? WILL BE TURNED IN FOR A GRADE.B.Attention Improves Our Ability to Respond to Objects

1.What happened in Egly’s study?

2.Same-object advantage – Define –

C.Attention Affects Perception – How?

D.Attention Affects Physiological Responding

1.Attention to Locations Increases Activity in Specific Areas of the Brain – What happens in the brain when people shift their attention to different locations while keeping their eyes stationary?

2.Attention Changes the Representation of Objects Across the Cortex

a.What happened in Cukur’s experiment?

b.Attentional warping- Define –

V.Divided Attention: Can We Attend to More than One Thing at a Time?

A.Divided Attention Can Be Achieved With Practice: Automatic Processing

1.What happened in Schneider and Shiffrin’s study? WILL BE TURNED IN FOR A GRADE.2.Automatic processing – Define –

B.Divided Attention Becomes More Difficult When Tasks Are Harder – Explain using an experience of your own.

VI.Distractions

A.Distractions by Cell Phones While Driving

1.What happened in the Strayer and Johnston study?

2.What did Strayer et al conclude?

3.What about technology that doesn’t require one to take their eyes off the road?

4.Try to craft a message that would convince drivers to not use their cell-phones or voice-activated tech while driving.

B.Distractions by the Internet

1.Experience sampling – Define –

2.How does operant conditioning lead to constantly checking your phone?

VI.What Happens When We Don’t Attend?

A.Inattentional blindness – Define –

Inattentional blindness – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSsuwZvom3g1.What happened in the Simons and Chambris study?

B.Inattentional Deafness

1.Visual search – Define –

2.Inattentional deafness – Define –

Inattentional deafness – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9maXXjc4MwM3.How is this related to task load?

C.Change detection – Define –

1.Change blindness – Define –

Inside NOVA: Change Blindness (Time: 4:07)

Change blindness and inattentional blindness defined and explained.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkrrVozZR2c2.Why does change blindness occur?

VII. Attention and Experiencing a Coherent World – Define binding and the binding problem.

The Binding Problem (Time: 3:25)

A student presentation covering two binding problem models.http://youtu.be/HmIjIqpZmTwA.Feature Integration Theory

1.Preattentive stage – Define –

2.Focused attention stage – Define –

B.Evidence for Feature Integration Theory

1.Illusory conjunctions – Define.

Questions to Turn In – Just submit this part of the assignment to Moodle.

1.Based on results such as these, Donald Broadbent (1958) created a model of attention designed to explain how it is possible to focus on one message and why information isn’t taken in from the other message. Explain the stages. (2 points)

2.How did Treisman update Broadbent’s theory? Make sure to define all terms involved. (2 points)

3.Explain the Stroop effect. (2 points)

4.What happened in Posner’s study? (2 points)

5.What happened in Schneider and Shiffrin’s study? (2 points)