Chapter 4: Attention. Introduction 1/5/2015. Deploying Cognitive Resources. Limited Mental Resources. Importance

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1 2 Chapter 4: Deploying Cognitive Resources 1 Introduction Bottleneck Selective Attenuation Spotlight Schema Inattentional Blindness Neural Basis ERPs Networks Stroop Automaticity & Practice Auto vs Controlled Capture Applications & IndDiff Divided Feature Integration Dual Task Educ Busi Medi Law Cell Phones Somewhere Among hidden the in most the spectacular Rocky Mountains cognitive near abilities Central City is Colorado the an ability old to miner select hid one a message box from of another. gold. We Although do several this hundred by people focusing have our looked attention for on it, certain they cues have such not as found type it style. Introduction How to focus on one of many stimuli Read bold print in box () # interesting questions How do we select what to attend to? What do we absorb of unattended information? What parts of brain are involved? How does attention develop and deteriorate with age? How can we select without processing (unconscious, subliminal perception)? 3 Limited Mental Resources Impossible to process all stimuli impinging on us Concentration: shut out some external or internal events How are cognitive resources allocated to each task? Types: Selective, Divided, Importance Part of Executive Control function in Information Processing Model Many applications Education Dysfunctions: ADHD, Anxiety, Skilled activities: driving, pilot, air traffic controller, 4 Several popular analogies (metaphors) for attention Bottleneck or Filter (top) Spotlight (bottom) Associated with different (?) theories 5 5 Selective Focus on one or few tasks rather than many Dichotic Listening Task Hear two messages, one in each ear (right) Shadow one message Report both Other Tasks Stroop Task Distraction vs. No Distraction comparison 6 1

2 Bottleneck (Filter) Theories 7 Disruptive effect on 8 attended message of backward speech in Filter selects one message to process unattended message Early Filter: Selection occurs early, before meaning processed Some consistent findings Remember little of unattended message content, even if repeated Note major physical differences (e.g., gender of speaker), but less so more subtle differences (e.g., language, backward speech, ) Fail to respond to stimuli in ignored message (Triesman & Geffin, 1967): Shadow message in one ear and ignore other; Tap pencil if hear word Green % Identified Green in shadowed ear 87% Green in ignored ear 8% Problems for Early Filter Cocktail Party Effect: sometimes people notice their own name (33%) Perhaps only important information gets through? Triesman: when message switched between ears, subjects followed message for several seconds Wood & Cowan: effect on attended message of change in unattended message (+1) Related to working memory capacity { Unattended messages not completely blocked out, but attenuated Turn down volume on unattended messages Three levels of analysis: Physical, Linguistic, Meaning Selection based partly on meaning Internal representations require different amounts of input to be activated i.e., normal thresholds vary Expectations can also prime certain words, leading to temporarily lowered thresholds for conscious processing Attenuation Theory MacKay (1973), Lackner, & Garrett Homonyms: bank river money Attended: They threw stones toward the BANK Unattended: river or money Unattended words not reported but affected interpretation of BANK Corteen Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) to unattended words paired earlier with shock No awareness of words Priming by masked preceding words 9 Spotlight Theories a limited 10 resource allocated across stimuli Spotlight can highlight more than one object or focus on one Factors that influence attention allocation Momentary intentions Enduring dispositions (e.g., interests) Arousal determines amount of resources that are available to allocation Neisser: People do not filter or attenuate unwanted material, they never acquire it in first place Many unexpected events never noticed Neisser & Becklen (1975) study: hand/ball People failed to notice changes in unattended scene See Inattentional Blindness Schema Theory 11 Inattentional blindness 12 Failure to perceive stimuli if not attended Superimposed scenes () Attend to one scene: e.g., count passes (easy) or count bounce and aerial passes (hard) 42% fail to notice unexpected events (gorilla, umbrella) in ignored scene (+1) Transparent Opague 2

3 Video Illustration 13 Video Example Inattentional Blindness 14 Change Blindness 50% fail to notice change in person Individual differences Mixed results No variation vs. Aging, Working Memory capacity Neural Bases of Hemineglect Drawings made by patient with damage to right Parietal lobe Also Frontal lobes Networks of Visual 32 areas of brain active in processing attended stimuli Enhancing-of-Processing Network Frontal + Parietal Control Network Disengage & Redirect Frontal, Parietal, Temporal, especially right hemisphere And ADHD (Barkley) Difficulty inhibiting on-going response 15 Event Related Potentials (ERPs) & ERPs Stronger for attended than unattended stimuli (F4.7 right) N d See also, Ch. 1 discussion of N400 Left Ear Tone 16 Right Ear Tone Automaticity With practice, activities require less cognitive capacity to perform Bryan & Harter (1899) study of apprentices learning Morse code () Practiced drivers tend to drive on autopilot Stroop Task Reading so automatic that we can t turn it off 17 Automatic vs. al (Controlled) Processing Automatic processing Occurs without intention Occurs without conscious awareness Does not interfere with other mental activity Schneider & Shiffrin Search task () 18 3

4 19 Feature 20 Integration Theory Perception & intertwined Triesman: FIT Stage 1: register features of objects, automatic Stage 2: integrate features, controlled Search task (left) Single feature: S or blue Conjunction: green T Pop-out vs. Serial Illusory Correlations al Capture 21 Stimuli sometimes capture our attention Fixation 1000 ms Target Identify C or reverse C in circle that stayed grey Added distracting red circle on half of trials, which slowed response Low Working Memory slower to disengage from distractor Distractor Divided Dual-task performance With much practice, can perform two tasks: e.g., take dictation & read for understanding () However, in general, dividing attention hurts performance 22 Hypothesis of Automation Logan proposal Early in practice tasks demand attention but less so later affects what is learned and remembered Cell Phone Use & Driving Errors With NO Texting! 23 Reaction Time Comalli, Wapner, & Werner (1962) Applications & Individual Differences 24 Childhood Development & Aging Stroop (Top) Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT ) Errors decrease and RTs increase during childhood 24 4

5 Applications: Clinical Disorders Specific disorders characterized in terms of (Inhibitory) Dysfunction ADHD, FASD, Anxiety: Obsessivecompulsive disorder Depression: Gotlib & McCann (1984) () Schizophrenia: Schizotypy and negative priming (+1 +2) DOG SAD 25 Negative Priming 26 Slower to respond when ignored on preceding trial Stroop example: BLUE RED Tipper task: superimposed pictures (below left) NP & Schizotypy (STA) Highs show no negative priming (below right) Standard Lows = NP -40ms Highs = No NP +10ms Negative Priming Gender & Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Marked difference in prevalence between males & females: 5-17 year olds ever diagnosed (below) Neuropsychology Hemineglect (earlier) Head injury () common complaint after head injury; can persist Caveness (1969) Veterans complain about concentration 5 years later 41% of vets with head injuries; 14% of noninjured vets Cognitive Rehabilitation Cognitive Rehabilitation (e.g., Sohlberg & Mateer, 1989) Selective tasks: Conflicting targets read as words or size (e.g., BIG little LITTLE big BIG LITTLE big little big...) Some evidence effective but results variable Alzheimer s Patients Group sessions & Computer training Results (): higher scores = worse 29 Applications: Medicine & Pain Gate-control theory (Melzack) Naturalistic "observations" Anecdotal evidence: Kant, Pascal, reported preference for distraction as technique Lamaze: focal point; meditation - mantra, breathing; acupuncture; hypnosis Experimental evidence Williams & Kinney (1991) (cold): Resource-intensive video game > verbalimaginal = relaxation > control () 30 5

6 Human Factors Vigilance; Skill learning; Accidents; Industry Gopher & Kahneman (1971) 100 cadets in Israeli air force Detect digits in dichotic listening task % making 3 or more errors 17 76% cadets rejected during light aircraft training 41 56% rejected early in jet training 42 24% reached advanced training Kahneman, Ben-Ishai, & Lotan (1973) correlated with accidents by bus drivers Emergency instructions (Loftus) Cell Phone Use and Driving (earlier study) 31 Education Reading Attending to lines Automaticity and word access (Stroop) ADHD Distraction () Baker & Madell (1965) Performance of college students on studying task () Intro Psych Students 32 & Law 33 Culture & 34 Loftus: Weapons Focus studies Participants see video of restaurant where either: Man points gun at cashier & she hands over money OR He hands a cheque and she gives him money Eye Movements monitored & recall tested Results: Weapon Group Fixated more on gun Recall poorer and less able to identify man Eyewitness Testimony Different-Race accuracy lower than Same-Race Nisbett & Colleagues Analytic vs Holistic processing by Europeans & Asians to figure vs ground (context) () & Business Subliminal Advertising False claims about Popcorn in movies Key (1972) ( Subliminal Seduction ): Journalist students viewed gin ad for several minutes, word SEX hidden in ice cubes 62% reported feeling sexual stimulation or excitement & Advertising Relevance & selective attention () 35 Review Spotlight metaphor Flexible Limited number of things attended at one time (selective attention) Automaticity Practice changes amount of attention required for task Some processes automatic & require no attentional resources Many real-world examples / implications of attention 36 Major component of Executive Functioning Cell phone or texting and driving Age & driving Education 6