Chapter 4: Attention and Consciousness

1. Chapter 4: Attention and Consciousness

2. Some Questions of Interest • What are some of the functions of attention? • What are some theories to explain attentional processes? • Can we actively process information, even if we are not aware of doing so?

3. Main Functions of Attention • Signal detection and vigilance • Search • Selective attention • Divided attention

4. Signal Detection Theory (SDT) • Measure sensitivity to a target’s presence Signal Decision

5. cogLab: Signal Detection

6. Vigilance and SDT • Vigilance is attending to stimuli over time to detect a target • Vigilance decreases rapidly over time (fatigue) • misses and false alarms increase

7. Search • Actively searching for a target • Number of targets and distracters influence accuracy • Feature search versus conjunctive search

8. cogLab: Visual Search

9. Conjunctive Search • Find the letter T • Which panel is easier?

10. Feature Search • Find the letter O • Easier or harder than the previous one?

11. Feature-Integration Theory (FIT) • Feature processing is done in parallel • Conjunctive searching requires attention to the integration or combination of the features • must be done sequentially

12. Another Feature Search Is there a red T in the display? T T T T T T T T Target is defined by a single feature According to feature integration theory, the target should “pop out” No attention required T T T T T T T T T

13. Another Conjunction Search Is there a red T in the display? X T X T X Target is defined by two features: shape and color According to FIT, the features must be combined and so attention is required Need to examine one by one T T X X T X X T T T

14. Similarity Theory & guided search • Similarity between targets and distracters is important, not number of features to be combined • More shared features = more difficult to detect a target • Guided search theory: All searches have two phases • Parallel phase • Serial stage

15. Selectivity of Attention • “Cocktail party phenomenon” • How are we able to follow one conversation in the presence of other conversations?

16. 0 Cherry’s Shadowing Technique Attended Ear: Unattended Ear: The doctor went to the park to find the homeless man. He was The lawyer defended his client as the trial began. He was able …..The doctor went to the park….. Listen to two different conversations and repeat one of the messages; may be binaural or dichotic

17. Shadowing Demonstration

18. 0 Cherry’s Results • What did you notice in the unattended ear? • What did you not notice in unattended ear?

19. 0 Theories of Selective Attention • Do they have a filter? • Where does the filter occur?

20. 0 Broadbent’s Model

21. 0 Treisman’s Attenuation Model

22. 0 Late Selection Theory(Deutsch & Deutsch, 1963)

24. Neisser’s Synthesis • Preattentive processes • Parallel • Note physical characteristics • Attentive processes • Controlled processes occur serially • Occur in working memory

25. Controlled vs. Automatic Processing • Automatic processing • Requires no conscious control • Controlled processing • Requires conscious control

26. Example: StroopEffect redyellowgreenblueredblueyellowgreenbluered Say the color the words are printed in as quickly as you can What errors do you make? Reading interferes with your ability to state the color, and your reaction time is slower

28. Automatization: Two Explanations • Integrated components theory:Anderson • Practice leads to integration; less and less attention is needed • Instance theory: Logan • Retrieve from memory specific answers, skipping the procedure; thus less attention is needed

29. Effect of Practice on Automatization • Rate of learning slows as amount of learning increases Negative- acceleration curve

30. Divided Attention • How many tasks can you do at once? • e.g., driving and talking, radio, phone... Class demo: write your name while you do the following…

31. Real-Life Dual Task • Driving and • Cell phones • Adjusting music • Watching the scenery Almost 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds of the event

32. Capacity Models of Attention

33. Factors that Influence Our Ability to Pay Attention • Anxiety • Arousal • Task difficulty • Skills

34. When Attention Fails Us • ADHD • Change and inattentional blindness • Spatial neglect

35. 0 Change and Inattentional Blindness • An inability to detect changes in objects or scenes • An inability to see things that are actually there • Remember the Gorilla video?? PBS and J Kevin O’Regan change blindness demos

36. Habituation & Dishabituation • Decrease in responsiveness when exposed to a repeated stimulus • Smokers vs. non smokers • Chiming clocks • Habituation/dishabituation paradigm • Allows psychologists to test abilities of infants and animals • If animal or infant dishabituates to a change, they can detect the change

37. Attention and Consciousness

38. Preconscious Processing • Information that is available for cognitive processing but that currently lies outside conscious awareness • Priming • TOT phenomenon • Blindsight

39. Priming BREAD BUTTER • How quickly do you process the second word? • Faster if you have been primed with a related word NURSE CAT DOCTOR DOG

40. Marcel (1983)

41. Marcel’s Procedure with Participants PALM PALM PINE XXXX PINE It’s a plant. Umm, it’s a plant. Subliminal Condition Conscious Condition

42. Marcel (1983) Results

43. Priming Can Speed or Slow Processing • Facilitative priming • Target stimuli (e.g., BUTTER) are processed faster if preceded by a related word (e.g., BREAD) • Negative priming effect • Target stimuli (e.g., PINE) is processed slower if preceded by a word related to target’s alternate meaning (PALM relating to hand)

44. 0 Tip-of-the-Tongue Experiences (TOT) • You know you know the word, but you cannot fully retrieve it

45. Blindsight • Person cannot consciously see a certain portion of their visual field but still behave as if they can see it • Video clip

46. Spatial Neglect • Lesion on one side of brain causes person to ignore half of their visual field

47. Visual Mind Reading • Using fMRI to predict what people are paying attention to • Pbs.org: what will the future be like?