Attention. How is information selected? Can we do things without attending to them? Attending and ignoring thoughts

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Priscilla Sharp
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1 Attention Selecting what is important Active, not passive, processing Kolers half-silvered mirror Efficiency of attending and ignoring How is information selected? Can we do things without attending to them? Attending and ignoring thoughts Count passes Count passes 2 Asking directions Conversation

2 How is information selected? Filter model (Early selection) One channel of information is attended, and only this channel is processed Channel = separable source of information Channels: one ear, one part of space, one kind of voice Very little reported from unattended ear (Cherry) Late selection More information gets through than predicted by early selection Unconscious effects of information Cocktail party effect Shifts of attention based on meaning (Gray & Wedderburn) Word meaning disambiguation experiment Galvanic skin response and shocked words

3 Early Selection Model

4 Early and Late Selection Models Late Early

5 Dichotic listening experiment - shadowing robin sparrow bluejay bluebird canary blackbird dove parrot owl stork pea carrot green beans string beans spinach broccoli asparagus corn cauiliflower brussel sprouts lettuce celery cucumber beets greens tomato lima beans artichokes turnip eggplant romaine green peppers okra Left Ear (unattended) Insert name here lark swallow parakeet oriole finch pigeon falcon raven hawk crow saw hammer ruler screwdriver drill nails tape measure sawhorse sandpaper sander file toolbox T-square chisel rasp pencil hacksaw square bench pliers wrench ladder lathe vise screws Right Ear (attended)

6 Attention switching to make meaningful sentence

7 Disambiguation from unattended ear Dog Fare/Fair Pen Attended ear Unattended ear Saw Taxi/Circus Hat When asked to report words from attended ear, listener tends to write fare when Taxi presented, but fair when Circus is presented. Unattended information is not reported, but has an influence based on its meaning.

8 Can we do (fancy) things without attention? Automatic processes Highly practiced Few cognitive resources used Fast Resources available for another task No longer consciously controlled Stroop effect Attentional capture - targets that become distractors are hard to ignore Negative priming - distractors that become targets are hard to attend

9 RED BLUE YELLOW GREEN BLUE RED GREEN YELLOW GREEN BLUE Stroop effect BLUE RED GREEN YELLOW GREEN BLUE RED GREEN BLUE RED Color naming is easier if word is congruent Automatic reading of word even when it is inappropriate

10 Proofreading Count the number of F s: Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of many years. Tend to miss letters when the word they occur in is highly frequent. Automatic gluing of letter to its word

11 Targets that become distractors are hard to ignore Initial task: Look for 7 s, ignoring 3 s After reversal: Look for 3 s, ignoring 7 s

12 Distractors that become targets are hard to attend Initial Task Report blue object Final Task Report blue object Control Hard, because lightning was distractor earlier

13 Doing two things at once Performing two tasks is easier if they use different cognitive resources Modularity (again) Performing an auditory and a visual task is easier than two auditory tasks or two visual tasks Interference between hand control Track with left hand Tone identification with right hand or vocally Easier if vocal because two hand tasks interfere with each other Finger wiggling (Turvey)

14 Dangerously divided attention

15 Attending to thoughts Thought suppression: trying not to think of something Difficult to not think of white bears when asked not to Repression is a poor way to not think of something Better strategy: think of something else instead Improvement with Think of red volkswagons instead Practice suppressing thoughts makes them rebound stronger

17 A failure of selective attention Synaesthesia - an involuntary impression of one sense when presented with another sense Examples: Alarm -> hot pink flashes. Middle C -> Blue. Luria s S. combined sight, sounds, taste, and touch 1 in 2,000. Women 6 times more likely than men. Better-than-average memories, especially for details We all have weak synaesthesia Poetry The murmur of gray twilight (Poe), silver needle-note of a fife (Auslander) Stroop interference across senses High pitch -> sharper, more angular, brighter, and smaller image Low pitch -> rounder, darker, and larger image Task: discriminate high from low pitches Faster to respond high when color is white rather than black Faster to respond low when color is black rather than white McGurk effect: can t ignore lips when listening to sound Ba sound + Ga lips -> perception of Da or Tha Leakage between senses because integration is important

18 Low pitch High pitch Dark Bright

MUSINGS ON ATTENTION. In a busy world filled with sounds, how do we select what to listen to?

MUSINGS ON ATTENTION. In a busy world filled with sounds, how do we select what to listen to? Part II -Attention MUSINGS ON ATTENTION In a busy world filled with sounds, how do we select what to listen to? How do we find meaningful information within a complex scene? What role does attention play