Attention and Automaticity

Attention and Automaticity 1 Psychological Interpretations of Consciousness • As Attention – Bringing Some Object into Awareness • As Primary Memory • Short-Term Memory, Working Memory – Maintaining that Object in Awareness • Attention as the Pathway to Primary Memory 2 William James on Attention Principles (1890), Chapter 11 Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed, scatterbrained state which in French is called distraction, and Zerstreutheit in German. 3 1 Varieties of Attention James, Principles (1890), Chapter 11 • Sensorial vs. Intellectual – Directed toward Objects of Sense – Directed toward Ideal or Represented Objects • Immediate vs. Apperceptive – Object Intrinsically Interesting – Derived from Interest in Some Other Thing • Passive vs. Active – Reflexive, Involuntary – Voluntary 4 Aspects of Attention Chun et al. (2011) • Limited Capacity – Environment Presents More Information Than Can Be Processed • Selection – Multiple Stimuli Compete for Attention • Modulation – Facilitates/Inhibits Processing • Vigilance – Sustain Attention Over Period of Time 5 Architecture of Attention 1 Chun et al. (2011) • External – Sensory Modality – Spatial Location – Temporal – Features and Objects • Internal – Task and Response Selection – Long-Term Memory – Working Memory 6 2 Architecture of Attention 2 Prinzmetal & Landau (2010) After Posner (1978) and Wundt (1902) • Voluntary (Endogenous) – Paid to External Cue • Goal-Directed – External and Internal – Affects Accuracy and Response Latency • Involuntary (Exogenous) – Captured by External Cue • Stimulus-Driven – External Only – Affects Only Response Latency 7 Early Studies of Attention and “Short-Term” Memory • Span of Apprehension (Woodworth) • Applications – Air Traffic Control – Telephone Numbers • “First Facts” – Attention is Limited – Attention Can Be Controlled • Deployed as Well as Captured • Attention as the Path to Short-Term Memory 8 – “Working Memory” Filter Model of Attention Broadbent (1958) Effectors Output System Limited Capacity Processor Long-Term Store 9 3 Dichotic Listening Cherry (1953) • The Cocktail-Party Phenomenon • Shadowing • Memory for Unattended Channel – Switch in Language – Switch between Forwards and Backwards + Switch between Male and Female Voice 10 Filter Theory of Attention Broadbent (1958) • Attention as a Bottleneck or Filter • Sensory memory – Icon, Echo, etc. • Attend to Single Communication Channel – Serial Information Processing • Selection Based on Perceptual Features – Semantic Analysis After the Bottleneck • Attention is Flexible – Attentional Processing is Serial 11 Filter Theory: Implications for Consciousness Broadbent (1958) • Perceptual Analysis is Unconscious – Can Occur Preattentively • Semantic Analysis Requires Consciousness – Must Occur Post-Attentively Preattentive = Preconscious = Perceptual Attentive = Conscious = Semantic 12 4 Multi-Store Model of Memory Waugh & Norman (1965) Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) Short-Term Store (Primary Memory) Sensory Registers Rehearsal Attention Encoding Long-Term Store (Secondary Memory) Retrieval Pattern Recognition 13 Problems with the Filter Model • Moray (1952) – Attention to One’s Own Name • Treisman (1960) – Shift Shadowed Message Between Ears • Preattentive Semantic Analysis – Can Go Beyond Physical Structure 14 Modified Filter Theory Treisman (1964) • Attenuator, Not Filter • Contextual Tuning • Attention Not Determined by Physical Attributes Alone – Goals – Signal-Detection Theory • Cognitive Theory of Attention – Bottom-up vs. Top-down processing – Stimulus vs. Meaning 15 5 Late-Selection Theories Deutsch & Deutsch (1963); Norman (1968) Abandon the Filter • Input Channels Processed in Parallel • Attention Based on Pertinence – Required for Response Selection – Not for Input Selection • Implications for Consciousness – Preattentive Analysis is Complete • Includes Meaning as well as Structure 16 Late-Selection Model of Attention Deutsch & Deutsch (1963) Norman (1976) Sensory System Expectations Language Analyzing Mechanisms Memory Pertinence 17 Attention Late- and Early Selection Compared S1 Semantic Analysis S2 A S3 Physical Analysis S4 Early Selection S5 S1 S2 B S3 Physical Analysis Semantic Analysis S4 S5 Late Selection 18 6 Problem: Extent of Preattentive Processing • Analysis Without Conscious Attention – Limited to Perceptual Structure? – Extends to Semantic Meaning? 19 Capacity Theory of Attention Kahneman (1973) • Attention = Mental Effort – Arousal • Cognitive Resources are Limited • Determinants of Allocation Policy – Automatic Enduring Dispositions – Conscious Momentary Intentions • Attention and Task Demands – Undemanding, Parallel – Demanding, Serial 20 Capacity Model of Attention Kahneman (1973) Arousal Available Capacity Dispositions Allocation Policy Evaluation of Demands Intentions Repertoire of Possible Activities Responses 21 7 Views of Attention and Automaticity • Traditional View – Elementary Processes are Preattentive • Performed Unconsciously or Preconsciously – Complex Processes Must Be Post-Attentive • Performed Consciously • Revisionist View – Elementary Processes Can Be Preattentive • Performed Unconsciously or Preconsciously – Complex Processes Can Be Unconscious Too • So Long As They Are Performed Automatically 22 Automaticity in Skilled Performance LaBerge & Samuels (1974); LaBerge (1975) • Many Complex Tasks Cannot be Performed Consciously • Some Components of Skilled Performance Must be Unconscious • Definition of Automaticity – Immediately Processed into Long-Term Memory • Even if Attention is Deployed Elsewhere 23 Automaticity in Reading Hierarchical Coding of Stimulus Input Graphemic Information • • • • • Feature Detectors Letter Codes Spelling-Pattern Codes Word Codes Word-Group Codes I • • • • • S R Q P Intrinsically Automatic Initially Effortful but Automatized Through Practice 24 8 Attention and Automaticity Kahneman (1973) • Identification of Consciousness with Attention – Preattentive = Preconscious • Early Selection: Perceptual, Physical • Late Selection: Semantic, Meaning • Attention Redefined as Mental Effort – Automatic Processes Don’t Require Effort • Executed Outside Scope of Conscious Attention – No Conscious Awareness – No Conscious Control – Sources of Automatization • Innate • Extensive practice 25 Automaticity Defined Bargh, “Four Horsemen of Automaticity” (1994) After LaBerge & Samuels (1974); Posner & Snyder (1975); Schneider & Shiffrin (1977); Schiffrin & Schneider (1977) • • • • • Inevitable Evocation Incorrigible Completion (Ballistic) Efficient Execution Parallel Processing Unconscious in the Strict Sense of the Term – Operate Outside Phenomenal Awareness – Operate Outside Voluntary Control 26 Automaticity Extended Hasher & Zacks (1979, 1984) • Inevitable Evocation, Efficient Execution • • • • No Improvement with Training or Feedback No Individual Differences Age Invariance Independent of Arousal 27 9 Roots of Automaticity • Innate Behaviors – Reflex, Taxis, Instinct • Conditioned Responses – Classical Conditioning – Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning • Automaticity Acquired Through Learning – Extensive Practice with Task • But Can’t Be Overcome – Even with Extensive Practice (?) 28 Dual-Process Theories in Psychology Chaiken & Trope (1999); Smith & DeCoster (1999, 2000) • Conscious or Effortful or Controlled – Symbolically Represented Rules • Structured by Language, Logic • Learned in One Trial (or Very Few) – Conscious • Optional, Depending on Capacity, Motivation • Conscious Awareness of Steps in Processing • Automatic or Unconscious – Associative • Structured by Similarity, Contiguity • Learned Over Many Trials – Automatic (As Defined Previously) • Preconscious, with Conscious Awareness of Result 29 Two Systems in Judgment and Decision-Making Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011) • System 1 – Automatic, Fast, Unconscious – Heuristic, “Hot” • Emotions, Stereotypes • System 2 – Controlled, Slow, Conscious – Algorithmic, “Cold” • Logical, Systematic • System 1 Wins the Race 30 10 Controlled and Automatic Conscious and Unconscious Components in Task Performance Jacoby (1991); • Tasks Cannot be Classified as Automatic or Controlled • Every Task has Automatic and Controlled Components • How to Separate Them Experimentally? 31 Age Differences in Memory Schoenfield & Robertson (1966); Schoenfield & Stones (1979) 100 % Correct 80 20s 30s 40s 50s 60+ 60 40 20 0 Recall Recognition Test Type 32 Controlled and Automatic Conscious and Unconscious Components in Memory Mandler (1980); Jacoby (1991) • Recall a Function of Retrieval – Conscious, Deliberate, Controlled • Two Processes in Recognition – By Retrieval • Item Consciously Remembered – By Familiarity • Item Automatically “Rings a Bell” (Priming) • Aging Impairs Conscious Recollection – But Spares Unconscious Priming 33 11 Priming Effect on Stem-Completion • Study list of Words • Stem-Completion Test density – Old studied targets – New unstudied lures den____ nec____ 34 Method of Opposition Jacoby (1991) • Study list of Words • Stem-Completion Test density – Old studied targets – New unstudied lures den____ nec____ • Inclusion Condition – Complete each stem with item from study list • or, the first word that comes to mind density • Exclusion Condition – Complete each stem with any item except one from the study list dentist 35 Age Differences in Memory Jacoby et al. (1997) Proportion of Targets 1 0.8 0.6 Young Old 0.4 0.2 0 Inclusion Exclusion Test Type 36 12 Process Dissociation Procedure Jacoby (1991) • Inc = C + A(1 - C) Inc C A (1 - C) • Exc • C • A = p Targets Produced on Inclusion task = p Targets Consciously Recognized = p Targets Automatically Generated = p Targets Not Consciously Recognized = A(1 - C) = Inc - Exc = Exc / (1 - C) 37 Automatic and Controlled Components in Age Differences in Recognition Jacoby et al. (1997) Group Inc Exc C A Young .76 .26 .44 .46 Old .55 .39 .16 .46 The age difference in recognition is due to age differences in the conscious, strategic component of recognition. 38 Components of Processing in Stem-Completion Jacoby et al. (1997) 1 Parameter Estimate 0.8 0.6 Young 0.4 Old 0.2 0 Conscious Automatic Test Type 39 13 20-Year Retrospective of PDP Yonelinas & Jacoby (2012) • Many Applications Beyond Memory • Criticisms of “Process Independence” – Processes May be Redundant/Embedded – May Need Multinomial Model (>2 Processes) • But Converging Evidence – Outcomes as Predicted by Process-Independence – Alternative Measures of A and C in Memory • Remember/Know Judgments • Signal-Detection Theory 40 Cognitive Perspective on Social Interaction • Importance of the Perception of the Situation – Impression Formation • Person Perception – Attribution Theory • Causal Explanation – Impression Management • Strategic Self-Presentation Traditional Focus: Conscious/Deliberate Thought 41 Revisionist Views of Social Interaction Reaction to “Cold, Calculating, Deliberation” • “Hot” Cognition • Emotion, Motivation Independent of Cognition • Emotion, Motivation Shape Cognition • Automaticity – Situational Influences on Social Interaction – Interpretation of Situational Influences as Priming – Social Behavior Largely Automatic in Nature 42 14