ATTENTION Don Hine School of Psychology UNE

Learning Objectives By the end of this lecture you should be able to: Define attention and describe 4 key phenomenological attributes. Distinguish between selective attention and divided attention. Distinguish between filter, attenuation, and pertinence models of selective attention. Distinguish between general capacity and multiple resource models of divided attention. Discuss the characteristics and causes of attention deficit hyper-activity disorder. Describe the alcohol myopia effects and its implications for risky sexual behaviour.

Attention Defined Attention as a mental process –the concentration and focusing of mental effort on a stimulus, mental event, or task. Attention as a limited mental resource –the limited mental energy or fuel that drives the mental system.

4 Key Phenomenological Attributes of Attention 1. Selectivity 2. Shiftability 3. Divisibility 4. Dual Control –conscious control –automatic

Cognitive Models of Attention Selective Attention –Filter Theory –Attenuation Theory –Pertinence Theory Divided Attention –Capacity Theory –Multiple Resource Perspective

Selective Attention The Problem… –At any given time, we are faced with more information than we can possibly attend to. –If you want to concentrate on (selectively attend to) only one thing, how do you filter out all the other distractions?

Dichotic Listening Task Shadowing Early work in 1950s Key Researhers –Cherry (1953) –Broadbent (1958) –Moray (1959)

Early Shadowing Findings Participants could typically report the following from unattended channel: –the gender of the speaker (pitch) –the pace of the speaker (fast or slow) –loudness of the message But not… –specific words and phrases (even if they had been repeated up to 35 times). Also few noticed when the message was: –switched to “reverse speech” –switched from English to another language

Broadbent’s Filter Model Information in both the shadowed and unshadowed channels enter the sensory registers and receive preliminary processing. Only the shadowed channel selected for further meaning-based processing.

Broadbent’s Filter Model

Problems with Broadbent’s Model Cocktail party effect –Shadowing is disrupted when subject’s name is presented in the non- shadowed channel (Moray, 1959).

Problems with Broadbent’s Model Treisman (1964) - Switching channels study

Treisman’s Attenuation Model Information from one channel is processed, whereas content of other channels is attenuated, but not completely blocked. Messages in the unattended channel will only be detected if they reach a minimum threshold level. Threshold can be reached in several different ways: –By being conceptually linked to the meaning of the message in the attended channel. –By having an inherently low threshold.

Norman’s Pertinence Model Selective attention is determined by two factors: –Sensory Activation - messages that are loud, distinct, or otherwise salient will be more likely reach threshold and be attended to. –Pertinence - information that is personally relevant is more likely to have a lower threshold for reaching awareness. On a moment by moment basis, the item with the highest combination of Sensory Activation and Pertinence will be attended to.

Norman’s Pertinence Model

Resource Models of Attention General Capacity Model Multiple Resource Model

General Capacity Model Attention is a limited resource that can be allocated among several inputs or tasks.

Attention as a General Resource 2 Difficult Tasks 2 Easy Tasks

–Is there one general pool of mental resources that are relevant to all tasks, or… –Are there many different types of mental resources, each suited to specific types of tasks? Task General vs Task Specific Resources

Implications of Multiple Resource Perspective Our ability to do several tasks at once should be determined by the nature of the tasks one is attempting to combine. –Tasks that are very similar should be more difficult to combine because they will compete for the same task specific resources. –Tasks that are dissimilar should be easier to combine because they will compete for different resources.

Evidence for Task Specific Resources Allport, Antoinis and Reynolds (1972) Ss randomly assigned to 3 conditions 1. S hadow list of words in left ear Presented with list of words in right ear 2. Shadow list of words in left ear Presented with list of words visually 3. Shadow list of words in left ear Presented with a list of pictures visually Dependent Measure Recall accuracy of non-shadowed information

Implications of General Resource Perspective Our ability to do several tasks at once should be determined only by the amount of resources required by each task. –Total Required Success –Total Required > Capacity -> Failure

Evidence for Task General Resources In certain situations even very dissimilar tasks can interfere with each other. –Mental arithmetic and visual judgements (Reisberg, 1983). –Driving and talking

SO…. What can we conclude? Probably several different types of attention resources. –some task specific –some task general May be better to conceptualise attention as a tool box, rather than a generic energy supply that can be divided between all tasks.