Attention

1
Chapter 3

• Attention

2
Aspects of Attention

• Selective Attention Attend to one thing while
  ignoring everything else
• Divided Attention Attend to two (or more)
  things simultaneously or doing two (or more)
  things at once.

3
Examples

• Selective Attention The cocktail party
  phenomenon
• Divided Attention Driving and talking on the
  cell phone

4
Laboratory Paradigms
Selective Attention ----- The Dichotic Listening
Task
5
(No Transcript)
6
The primary interest in many dichotic listening
studies has to do with the extent to which the
unattended message is processed
7
This can be accomplished by asking the
participant what he or she might have noticed in
the unattended message.
8
Example Cherry (1953)

• Cherry varied the following characteristics
• Voice to tone
• Male voice to female voice
• English to Spanish
• Novel to passage on physics
• Participants tended to notice the first two
  changes, not the second two
• Seems to suggest that little of the unattended
  message was processed

9
Laboratory Paradigms
Divided Attention ----- Doing two things at once
10
Task 1

• Participant asked to detect tones in a background
  of white noise
• When the participant hears a tone, he or she
  responds by pushing a key
• Both the response time and accuracy are recorded

11
Task 2

• Participant asked to identify even numbers in a
  random string of numbers presented on a computer
  screen
• When the participant sees an even number, he or
  she responds by pushing a key
• Both the response time and accuracy are recorded

12
The primary interest in many divided attention
studies is how performance on one task influences
performance on a second task
13
What should happen to performance on task 2 if a
participant is asked to give primary emphasis to
task 1?
14
What should happen to performance on task 2 if a
participant is asked to give primary emphasis to
task 1? What should happen to performance on
task 1 if a participant is asked to give primary
emphasis to task 2?
15
(No Transcript)
16
Would the attentional demands of the tasks
influence the outcome?
17
Theories of Attention

• Filter Theory
• Capacity or Resource Theory

18
Theories are based on different metaphors

• Filter theory Attention operates like a filter
  which eliminates some information
• Capacity/resource theory Attention is a limited
  resource that is required for certain attention
  demanding processes.

19
Theories seem to emerge from different lines of
research

• Filter theory emerges from research on
  selective attention
• Capacity/resource theory emerges from research
  on divided attention

20
An example of a filter theory
Broadbents Switch model
21
(No Transcript)
22
Two questions that emerge

• Is the filter all or none ?
• At what point does filtering take place?

23
(No Transcript)
24
Treismans study implies that inputs can be
analyzed quite extensively before selection
(filtering) occurs
25
Treismans study implies that inputs can be
analyzed quite extensively before selection
(filtering) occurs
26
Could semantic processing occur at an unconscious
level?
27
Processing of supraliminal stimuli that are
outside of attention.
Attended Message They threw stones at the bank
yesterday
Unattended Message blah, blah, blah,
money, blah or blah, blah, blah,
river, blah,
28
Studies which suggest that information is
unconsciously processed at a meaningful level
has given rise to the notion of the cognitive
unconscious
29
Freud and the Cognitive Unconscious
The primary difference may be the level of
sophistication. Freuds notion of unconscious
was quite sophisticated. The cognitive
unconscious is not.
30
Example Self Deception
Self deception could be explained by proposing
low-level analyzers which detect and inhibit
anxiety arousing stimuli.
31
Capacity or Resource Theory
32
Assumptions of Capacity Theory

• The amount of attentional resources that can be
  allocated to a task can vary continuously
• As more resources are allocated to a task,
  performance on that task typically increases

33
(No Transcript)
34
Resource Limitation vs. Data Limitation

• When performance increases with increasing levels
  of attention, we say performance is resource
  limited
• When performance does not increase with
  increasing levels of attention, we say
  performance is data limited

35
Examples

• Resource limitation You miss what someone has
  said on the phone because you dont pay adequate
  attention to what they are saying
• Data limitation You miss what someone has said
  because the phone connection was bad

36
(No Transcript)
37
Assumptions of Capacity Theory

• Attentional resources are fixed at constant
  amount. (According to Kahneman, capacity depends
  on arousal level)
• When demand for attention exceeds the supply of
  attention, performance suffers
• Attentional resources can be allocated to one or
  more ongoing tasks
• When the attentional demands of the tasks do not
  exceed the supply, the individual will have no
  difficulty performing all tasks.
• When the attentional demands of the tasks exceeds
  the supply of attention, performance on one task
  becomes dependent on performance of another.

38
Performance on two tasks when attentional demands
exceed attentional supply
39
Allocation of attentional resources depends upon

• Enduring dispositions
• Momentary intentions

40
A contribution of capacity theory is that it
provides us with a method for measuring the
attentional demands of a task
41
General Method

• Have participant engage in two tasks
  simultaneously
• Designate one the primary task and the other the
  secondary task
• primary task participant told to give priority
  to this task and to maximize performance
• secondary task participant told to do the best
  they can on this task while still giving priority
  to the primary task

42
Example

• Primary task Driving the car
• Secondary task Talking on the cell phone

43
General Method (contd)

• Vary the attentional demands or difficulty of the
  primary task
• Notice change in secondary task performance
• Change in secondary task performance provides
  index of intentional demands of primary task

44
Example (contd)

• Driver encounters traffic congestion
• Attentional demands of driving presumably
  increase
• Driver has a more difficult time carrying on
  conversation on phone

45
Laboratory Example (Posner and Boise, 1971)

• Primary task Letter matching. Sequence of
  events
• Warning signal
• First letter presented
• Second letter presented
• Participant responds whether letters match
• Secondary task Tone detection

46
(No Transcript)
47
Automaticity
With high levels of practice, certain skills
become automatic in the sense that they do not
require (or require very little) attentional
resources
48
Examples of Automaticity

• Driving a car
• Walking
• Encoding word meanings (?)
• Other?

49
Sometimes automaticity leads to absentminded
actions or action slips
50
The Stroop Phenomenon
Another sense of the word automaticity
51
Instructions As quickly as you can, name the
color of the ink. Start in the upper left-hand
corner and proceed across each line from the top
of the screen to the bottom
52
(No Transcript)
53
Instructions As quickly as you can, name the
color of the ink. Start in the upper left-hand
corner and proceed across each line from the top
of the screen to the bottom
54
(No Transcript)