Definitions of Attention Part 1

Attention ___________________________________________ 1. Define attention (as best we can) in terms of where it fits in the cognitive system and what it does. 2. Outline the questions that define the study of attention. 3. Describe the four functions of attention  Vigilance  Search  Selection  Division 4. Discuss how attention selects relevant stimuli and ignore irrelevant stimuli. 5. Explore the limits of attention: automaticity. 6. Examine the literature on the influence of subliminal stimuli on behavior. Definitions of Attention ___________________________________________ Attention as Activity (Selection) Attention as Fuel (Processing) The problem is that it's hard to separate these definitions. They are circular. Q: How do you increase attentional fuel? A: Decrease the number of Q: What happens if more items are selected? A: Less fuel available for Key Questions ___________________________________________ 1) Is attention limited? 2) How much and what limits it? 3) What happens to "unselected" stimuli? 4) How does something become "automatic"? Where does Attention fit into the Process? ___________________________________________ (Unconsciousness) Consciousness Sensation & Perception Attention Preconscious Processing Learning & Memory Four functions (forms) of attention ___________________________________________ a) Vigilance (may or may not be there) b) Search (actively pursuing a target) c) Selective Attention d) Divided Attention "One thing at a time and not very well." ~ Hilda S. Schulkind Vigilance ___________________________________________ The ability to attend to a field of stimulation over a prolonged period of time in which your goal is to detect the appearance of some target stimulus. Factors that affect Vigilance 1) Fatigue Affects criterion, not sensitivity Subjects notice target, 2) Limited field Accuracy over a small spatial area Varying views on shape of attentional field 3) Onset of target 4) Expectation/Practice Search ___________________________________________ Difference between search and vigilance a) b) Big Question: Is search serial or parallel? Feature Model of Search ___________________________________________ 1) Analyze the target in terms of its 2) Activate all stimuli in the field that contain 3) Search activated stimuli for the target. 4) Positive features easier to detect than negative ones. ___________________________________________ Visual Search Reaction Time (ms) 3000 2500 2000 Conj. Absent Conj. Present Feat. Absent Feat. Present 1500 1000 500 0 4 16 # of Distractors 64 Selective/Divided Attention ___________________________________________ The problem: You are at the  kegger and it’s raucous - people hanging from chandeliers -when in walks this cutie. You make your way over there and begin to chat. How do you ignore the festivities and focus in on charming the cutie? (selective attention) The other problem: Let’s face it, we’re young and we don’t want to prematurely limit our options. What if our cutie has a significant other? What if the cutie doesn't fancy us (yeah, right)? What if an even cuter cutie arrives at the party? Can we maintain a conversation with the cutie without totally losing contact with the rest of the scene? (divided attention) Dichotic Listening Experiments: Bringing the  kegger into the lab ___________________________________________ Subjects here two distinct messages; one in each ear. Must “shadow” one of the messages. Like when you were six. What subjects DO notice about the unattended message What subjects FAIL to notice about the unattended message Notice a pattern? Conclusions - Bottleneck Theory ___________________________________________ Attention serves as a filter that selects what information gets passed on; sometimes called the Early-Selection Theory Sensory Registers Attentional Control Perceptual Processes Consciousness Problems for Bottleneck Theory a) Cocktail party effect b) New car effect One Solution: Late Selection Models ___________________________________________ Sensory Registers Perceptual Processes Attentional Control Consciousness Problem: Difficult to disprove Key piece of evidence: Some streams are not processed for meaning. But is failure due to: a) b) Other Solution: Attenuation Theory ___________________________________________ Many messages come in, all are processed, but for one message, the volume is turned up EX:Visiting Pete in college ___________________________________________ Left Ear Once upon a time there were three little Right Ear How much wood could a woodchuck… Switch chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood. bears. Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear. Attenuation Theory: Schematically ___________________________________________ Sensory Registers Perceptual Processes Attentional Control Consciousness Problems: a) How? b) Subjects follow meaning, not channel c) Unattended Speech Effect One last possibility: Schema Theory ___________________________________________ Schema theory 1. Consciousness selects a goal; 2. Expectations and the environment choose the path Taxi-Cab Analogy EX: a) Neisser's work with visual scenes b) Jones' work with music c) Speaking roles Relation to dichotic listening data: a) Cherry’s Data b) Channel switching data (Treisman) c) Maybe rapid shifting of attention is involved Inhibition ___________________________________________ Kind of like negative attention. Instead of bringing information into consciousness, inhibition is a process that actively keeps information out of consciousness. Evidence: 1) Negative Priming studies AJ =======> DF LD =======> DF (control set) (NP set) 2) High-Cloze sentence completion She ladeled the soup into her ____________. Lexical decision task Aside: Pronounced Age Differences