Definitions of Attention Part 2

Divided Attention ___________________________________________ Limited Pool of Resources No Capacity left for Task C. Modality-Specific Strayer & Johnston (2001) ______________________________________________ Theoretical Question: Empirical question: Intro:  Survey data: cause and effect conclusions? o Self-selection o Precipitating factors for cell phone use o P(Cell|A) tells us nothing about P(A|Cell)  What about: P(`A|Cell), P(A|’Cell), P(`A|’Cell)? (Bayes Theorem)  DUI vs. DWC Method:  Pursuit tracking and response to traffic signals  While listening to a book on tape (comprehension)  Word shadowing or generation task in easy or difficult driving condition. Strayer & Johnston (2001): Experiment 1 ______________________________________________ Results:    Strayer & Johnston (2001): Experiment 2 ______________________________________________ Results:  Implications:  Attention required to o Not manipulation of the phone o Not comprehension Strayer & Johnston (2001): Discussion ______________________________________________ 1. Why might you argue that the conversational tasks in this experiment should not have interfered with performance on the driving tasks? 2. Imagine that you are a libertarian. How might you attack this study and/or its conclusions? a. Difficulty b. Predictability c. Ecological validity 3. What do you think about the methodology that Strayer and Johnston (2001) used? 4. Should we ban radios, iPods, and/or conversations of any kind with passengers in the car? Automaticity ___________________________________________ What are some behaviors that you do ‘automatically’? a) Slamming my foot on the clutch b) What is 3 + 2? c) Frequency of occurrence judgments? d) Some time estimation judgments? Posner’s definition of automaticity a) processes concealed from b) c) consume few Continuum view difference of degree How does a task become automatic ___________________________________________ 1) Consolidation view Steps become aggregated with practice 2) Instance theory of Gordon Logan Racehorse model algorithm versus memory retrieval Which is right? a) consolidation view seems to be b) Instance view applies more to EX: simple math problems Spelke, Hirst & Neisser (1976) ___________________________________________ Introduction: Theoretical question: Empirical Question:  First wave: two simultaneous tasks o Dangers of introspection  Next wave: dichotic listening experiments o Tested ‘unattended’ stream in/directly  What was Spelke, et al.’s approach? Method: Spelke, Hirst & Neisser (1976) ___________________________________________ Results: Baseline: Reading dictation Dual-task: Reading dictation  Were they paying attention to both?  Why were Mary's experimental stories used as John's control stories? Switch to categorized lists, sentences, rhymes. Discussion: 1. Why do Spelke, Hirst, and Neisser (1976) argue that rapid switching of attention cannot explain their results? 2. How do Spelke, Hirst, and Neisser (1976) define automaticity? o How does their definition differ from older ones? o Do John and Diane exhibit automatic behavior according to the old/new definition? 3. Could John and Diane learn to take dictation of another story? 4. Are consciousness and attention the same thing? 5. What are the ‘limits’ of attention? Automaticity…the dark side ___________________________________________ Capture Continuation of an automatic behavior in a familiar but inappropriate setting Omission Interruption causes us to skip steps in an evolving behavior Perseveration Repeating one or more steps in an evolving behavior Description Performing an intended action on the wrong object Data-driven Incoming sensory information overrides a planned activity Associative-Activation High expectations regarding an activity might result in inappropriate response Loss-of-Activation Activation of a routine process is too weak to sustain behavior Preconscious Processing ___________________________________________ What do we mean by pre-conscious? Vast Storehouse of knowledge EX: Subliminal processing outside the lab EX: Subliminal processing inside the lab? EX: Priming Nurse ===> Doctor Butter ========> Doctor Marcel Subliminal Priming Experiments ___________________________________________ Target word: PALM Don’t see the word Full Exposure in Context Subliminal Exposure Classification Task: Is PALM a body part? or Is PALM a type of tree? 800 600 Body Tree 400 200 0 Baseline Problems: Full Exp Sublim 1) Is effect sub-threshold? Identification vs. recognition 2) Time course of the effect Sub-liminal effects outside the Laboratory ___________________________________________ 1) Popcorn / Coke Initial studies seemed to indicate an effect But…confounding variable 2) Embedding "Sex" in an Advertisement EX: Disney’s Lion King 3) Backward messages People can detect… a) b) c) People cannot detect… a) b) c) 4) Self-Help tapes (Friends episode) Placebo effect Neuropsychology and Attention ___________________________________________ Brain areas implicated in attention (brain damage) 1) Parietal Lobes Hemi-neglect Ipsilateral vs. contralateral inputs 2) Frontal Lobes Strategic Behavior Posner Model - 3 stages 1) Disengage (posterior parietal lobe) Attention as activity 2) Move (superior colliculus) Attention as activity 3) Enhance (pulvinar) Attention as fuel ERP startle response P300 - any time something unexpected occurs Blind Sight ___________________________________________ Cortically blind patients are people whose retinas work, but they still can't see because of problems further up in the system. Here is what they can do: 1) Identify an object, its orientation and/or orientation at better than chance levels. 2) Can grasp an object in space. 3) Adjust their hands to fit the object.