Psyc2020 Quiz 3 - Lecture 9

Front 1

What are the two properties of attention?

Back 1

1. Capacity: the amount of resources available

2. Selectivity: fixing your resources on subset of information in a flexible way. Therefore it affects what you perceive, what does and doesn't get processed.

Front 2

What is the implication of using University students as participants in attentional studies

Back 2

University students most likely have higher capacity 'resources' thus limiting the generalisability of the studies

Front 3

What is the Royal Exchange Effect?

Back 3

It refers to the fact that we can switch "exchange" our attention. And we can focus our attention on one source amongst many. This means that attention can be re-directed and selected

Front 4

How do we measure attention?

Back 4

By responses to the environment. The speed and accuracy of the responses. And then brain scans were also developed

Front 5

What is the problem with the early selection theory?

Back 5

It would mean that we wouldn't process things, thus how would we know if they are important to us or not?

Front 6

What is the problem with the late selection theory?

Back 6

It means that a lot of information that is irrelevant would be processed, which seems inefficient.

Front 7

What is the implication of the attentional bottleneck occurring before perceptual analysis (in the early selection theory)?

Back 7

Non-relevant information just disappears. Thus t irrelevant information should not interfere with processing

Front 8

What is the implication of the late selection theory?

Back 8

That non-relevant information will be processed, which may interfere with processing

Front 9

When does the bottleneck occur in the early selection and late selection?

Back 9

In early selection the bottleneck is thought to occur after sensory processing, whereas the late selection theory, proposes that it occurs after minimal perceptual analysis and semantic meaning.

Front 10

Was early or late selection correct?

Back 10

Both were, the timing of the filter is task dependant. It can be early or late.

Front 11

What happens to the extra or irrelevant information?

Back 11

1. It can become a distractor

2. Searching scenes 'bit by bit'

Front 12

What is the result of a distractor?

Back 12

Slows reaction time and accuracy, and trajectory of movement. AND it is not due to physical obstruction

Front 13

What is overt deployment of attention?

Back 13

It is when you make an actual eye movement

Front 14

What is covert deployment?

Back 14

Not moving your eyes but moving your attention

Front 15

What are the 3 components of shifting attention? And what part of the brain is linked to each?

Back 15

1. Disengagement: disengage from current target. Brain: parietal lobe. esp. right.

2. Movement / shifting: moving to different object. Brain: superior colliculus - also used for eye-movement.

3. Re-engage. Thalamus

Front 16

What is an endogenous cue?

Back 16

Top-down processing.

They are symbolic cues, where attention needs to be direction from the cue to where the cue is pointing them to go

Front 17

What is an exogenous cue?

Back 17

Exo = external

Bottum-up processing

It is a cue that is difficult to ignore, it is involuntarily looked at. Thus, attention is drawn to the location of the cue

Front 18

Give an example of when both are used?

Back 18

Driving - you choose to do things but also seem people indicate therefore using exogenous attention

Front 19

What did Moran and Desimone (1985) do to measure covert attention? What were their results and what can be concluded?

Back 19

Method:They used psychophysiological recordings in monkeys using electrodes. In one condition they trained monkeys to fixate on a point whilst not giving attention to the periphery stimulus. In the second condition, monkey fixate on the point and pay attention to the periphery stimulus. They did the experiment again but measured V4 which has a preference for complext stimuli

Results: In V1 the firing rate was the same for both conditions. Whereas for V4 with complex stimuli the firing rate was much higher during covert attention.

Conclusion: Covert attention can modulate the firing rate of V4. Attention boosts gain in processing of sensory stimuli. Meaning that if you're paying attention to something it is going to be prioritised.

Front 20

What occurs in the Posner Cuing Paradigm?

Back 20

Neutral trial: Ps fixate on a dot in the middle and they know that a target will come up on L or R. Then the target appear.

Valid trial: An endogenous cue points the direction in which the target will appear.

Invalid cue: the cue points to the right, but target appear on the left.

Front 21

What can we expect to find in the Posner Cuing Paradigm? And what can we conclude?

Back 21

In valid trial there is a benefit (performance is speeded), in the invalid trial there is a cost (slower reaction time), as you have to disengage, shift and re-engage. In the neutral trial performance is somewhere in the middle.

Conclude: There is enhanced processing in the attended area, and a cost to the unattended area as it has less processing.

Front 22

What causes an voluntary or involuntary shift in attention?

Back 22

Exogenous cues cause involuntary shifts, whereas endogenous cues cause voluntary shifts.

Front 23

What type of processing is used in distributed and focused attention?

Back 23

Distributed attention used parallel processing, focused attention uses serial processing.

Front 24

What occurs in parallel processing?

What task is used to test parallel processing ("pop out") ?

Back 24

Visual processing occurs simultaneously over the whole visual field when searching for a single feature in an array.

Searching for a target.

Front 25

What occurs in serial processing that is used in focused attention?

Back 25

A portion of the environment is focused on a bit at a time. Attentional "fixations" each covering a different region of space.

Front 26

After how many milliseconds is there activation of the occipital and frontal lobe, during a pop-out trial?

Back 26

350-400 milliseconds.

Front 27

In what type of search does the number of distractors make a different? And why?

Back 27

In a serial search, an increase of distractors causes the search to be longer. This is because in serial search you have to fixate attention of different areas in space one after the other. Thus, more distractors means more time is spent searching.

Front 28

What were the three conditions in Mack and Rock's study? What was the performance of each condition? What does their study demonstrate?

Back 28

1. Participants focused on the line lengths and weren't told that a shape would appear in the corner.

2. Ps were told that they had to attend to what was going on in the corner (divided attention)

3. Ps solely focused on the shape in the corner.

1. Some didn't notice there was shape, but mostly they didn't know what the shape was.

2. Performance was better.

3. Performance was only perfect in this condition.

We can use attention as a sensory filter and we focus on what we are told to, meaning that instructions are very important.

Front 29

What is the hierarchy of features can be processed without visual attention? (Mack and Rock, 1998)

Back 29

There is a hierarchy:

Location, colour, the amount of objects, and then lastly the shape of the object.

Front 30

What can cause neglect and extinction (disorders of attention)? Which general and brain areas is associated?

Back 30

Frequently happens after middle cerebral artery strokes. From damages to the right parietal lobe.

Front 31

What test is used to assess whether the patient has extinction or neglect?

Back 31

The patient fixates on a person's nose. The person wiggles a either L or R fingers.

Neglect: If the patient always ignores the wiggle on the left side of the visual field If they.

Extinction: ignore it only when the right side fingers are also wiggling.

Front 32

What is extinction?

Back 32

When there is concurrent stimulation on the L and R hemisphere, the R side is causes the L to be ignored.

Front 33

What are two ways extinction be modulated?

Back 33

1. Telling the person to ignore the right side

2. Presenting the stimulus on the left side earlier (a prior entry task - 200ms - although the patient thinks that they came on at the same time)