Attention - created from Mind Map

Page 1

Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession of

the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem

several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought…..it

implies withdrawal from some things to deal effectively with

others

Broadbent Filter Theory (1958)

Treisman's attenuation model (1964)

Late selection (Deutsch & Deutsch 1963)

Visual Attention

All SEMANTIC PROCESSING is carried out after the filter has selected the channel to pay attention to. So whatever message is sent to the unattended ear is not understood.

Broadbent (1954) used the split-span procedure

Information can be processed for meaning before selection (e.g. sound of your name grabs your attention). Attention can be switched easily from one channel to another (Gray & Wedderburn, 1960). The following pictures show the possible responses to Gray & Wedderburn's task, which do you think was most easy for participants?

Cherry (1953) investigated it using the dichotic listening task: Method: Participants listened to a different message in each ear at the same time whilst shadowing (repeating) one of the messages.

Broadbent (1954) thought that we select one 'channel' of information for attention, for example the left or right ear, based on physical characteristics of the information. This means that information is not processed semantically (for meaning) until after it has been selected for attention. This is an early selection model.

Attention can be focused on one stimulus and most other information is blocked. Support for Cherry's work comes from Moray (1959). Seven words were repeated 35 times in the unattended ear, but subsequent recall was no better than chance. However, Cherry found that some features of information presented to the unattended ear seem to get through the block, such as a change from a male to female or loud to quiet voice (physical features). The sound of your name (meaningful or semantic information) may also 'grab' your attention.

Three digits presented to one ear, whilst three different digits were presented to the other ear. Participants had to write down as many digits as they could remember

Accuracy was better for ear-by-ear recall than pair-by-pair recall. Given the choice, participants preferred ear-by-ear recall. Conclusion: Attention can only be focused on one 'channel' of information at a time and switching 'channels' is difficult.

Treisman's filter attenuates (weakens), rather than eliminates, the unattended information.

Her own work, using speech shadowing, showed that an unattended message can be incorporated into the attended message if it makes more sense (Treisman, 1960)

overcomes some of the problems associated with Broadbent's Filter Model, e.g. the Attenuation Model can account for the 'Cocktail Party Syndrome'

Treisman's model does not explain how exactly semantic analysis works. . The nature of the attenuation process has never been precisely specified.

Attenuation is like turning down the volume so that if you have 4 sources of sound in one room (TV, radio, people talking, baby crying) you can turn down or attenuate 3 in order to attend to the fourth.

the unattended message is processed less thoroughly than the attended one, suggests processing of the unattended message is attenuated or reduced to a greater or lesser extent depending on the demands on the limited capacity processing system.

in this method participants are asked to simultaneously repeat aloud speech played into one ear (called the attended ear) whilst another message is spoken to the other ear.

they claim that all information (attended and unattended) is analysed for meaning in order to select an input for full awareness. Whether or not information is selected is dependent on how relevant it is at the time.

unlikely that all information should be processed semantically before we are made aware of it. This suggestion is backed up by evidence that we are better at spotting key words in attended messages than unattended messages - according to Deutsch & Deutsch we should be equally as good at each.

However, the Deutsch & Deutsch model explains the process of focused attention more simply.

Moray (1969), who paired electric shocks with a word to condition a galvanic skin response (GSR) when the word was spoken. A GSR was produced even when the word was presented to the unattended ear and the participants were unaware of i

Space Based Attention

Object based Attention

2 orienting systems

Visual attention is directed to particular locations of the visual scene.

spotlight that enhances processing of stimuli within its beam (e.g. Posner, 1980), or a zoom lens (e.g. Eriksen & Yeh, 1985), which likens attention to the operation of a zoom lens of a camera.

Posner 1980 study showed that Visual attention can be allocated to spatial locations independently of eye movements

spatial attention is varied by precueing the location where the target stimulus is likely to appear.

attention is directed to objects or perceptual groups of the visual scene previously segmented on the basis of gestalt principles

Endogenous

Exogenous

Goal directed system: a top-down system influenced by expectations, knowledge and current goals.

can be engaged explicitly to select one thing over another (e.g., attend to one location and ignore others, Posner, 1980), as well as to follow a particular instructional set or general rule (e.g., attend to and report the color of the presented word, Stroop, 1935).

effects that are generated externally by the physical properties of stimuli (e.g., brightness, color, shape).

allows novel or salient information (e.g., a sudden change in luminance, Jonides & Yantis, 1988) to transiently interrupt goal-directed behavior.

Stimulus driven system: a bottom-up system which is used when an unexpected and important stimulus is presented.