Chapter 4: Attention and Consciousness

Attention Is… The concentration of mental energy that must be used to process incoming information Selective Limited Both conscious and preconscious

Preconscious Attention Items that lie outside our conscious awareness, some may be made conscious, some not Introduction to issues in Preconscious attention.

Priming How quickly do you process the second word? BREAD BUTTER How quickly do you process the second word? Faster if you have been primed with a related word. NURSE CAT DOCTOR DOG

Marcel (1983) Condition Subliminally Present Prime Consciously Present Prime Prime PALM Mask XXXX   Target PINE OR WRIST Response Body part or Plant? Body Part or Plant? Reaction time How fast? Distinguish between the two groups in Marcel’s study. In the subliminally present prime group the word “palm” was presented so briefly that the participants were not able to process the word at a conscious level. In the conscious present prime Group, participants were aware they had seen the word “Palm” before being asked about the question (Body part or Plant? ) about the target word (“Pine”).

Marcel’s Procedure with Participants PALM PINE PALM PINE XXXX It’s a Plant. Umm, It’s a Plant. After you click the mouse once on this slide a demonstration of Marcel’s experimental conditions will occur. Once this slide runs through its demonstration once, you can use the “page up” button to repeat the experience. Have the students first focus on what the orange participant sees, then hit the “page up” button on the Keyboard and have them view what the yellow person would see. This will enable the students to better understand the difference between the two conditions. Subliminal Condition Conscious Condition

Marcel (1983) Results Condition Subliminally Present Prime Consciously Present Targets: PINE or WRIST Found faster RT for both target words Found faster RT for one of two target words, slower RT for the other target Interpretation Both meanings were primed Only one meaning is primed, the other inhibited Discuss importance of findings for preconscious processing. If the participant was consciously aware of seeing the word “PALM” , only one mental pathway was activated: the other pathway was inhibited.

Priming Can Speed or Slow Processing Facilitative Priming Target stimuli (e.g., BUTTER) are processed faster if preceded by a related word (e.g., BREAD) Negative Priming Effect Target stimuli (e.g., PINE) is processed slower if preceded by a word related to target’s alternate meaning (PALM relating to hand)

Bowers, Regehr, Balthazard & Parker (1990) Bowers, Regehr, Balthazard & Parker (1990) Triad A Triad B Basket Swan Room Army Foot Mask BALL Answer: Triad A is coherent 4th word is ball Which of these triads is coherent? What is the 4th word that ties them together?

Bowers (et.al.) Results Even if participants could not generate the 4th word, they still selected the coherent triad Results demonstrate preconscious processing

Tip-of-the-Tongue Experiences (TOT) Tip-of-the-Tongue Experiences (TOT) You know you know the word but you cannot fully retrieve the word Paradigms used to generate TOT states Show pictures of famous people or politicians and have participants name them Ask general knowledge questions to generate TOTs

TOT Demonstration What is the name of Dagwood Bumstead’s dog? Who wrote Paradise Lost? What is a wheeled hospital cart called? Do any of these questions put the answer on the tip of your tongue? Answers: Daisy, Milton, Gurney In experiments using these types of materials, people who are put in the tip-of-the tongue states can often recall the first letter of the answer even though they cannot retrieve the entire word. They can also tell how many syllables are present and a “sound” of the word.

Blindsight Person cannot consciously see a certain portion of their visual field but still behave in some instances as if they can see it Being aware of doing something is distinguishable from doing something

Controlled vs. Automatic Processing Requires no conscious control Controlled processing Requires conscious control

Is Typing Automatic or Controlled for You? Do you type without thinking where your fingers are? Are you a search-and-peck typer? If you do type without using attention, what happens when you think about the letters as you are typing them? Discuss how skills begin as controlled and may become automatic over time. Discuss how when you are more likely to make an error when you think about an automatic process. Have you ever tried to teach someone how to do something you know very well, but have difficulty breaking it down into steps because you do it so automatically?

Automatization - Two Explanations Integrated components theory-Anderson Practice leads to integration; less and less attention is needed Instance Theory - Logan Retrieve from memory specific answers, skipping the procedure; thus less attention is needed

Effect of Practice on Automatization Negative- Acceleration Curve Explain how the impact of practice leads to a negatively accelerated curve. Figure 4.2: The rate of improvement caused by practice effects shows a pattern of negative acceleration. The negative acceleration curve attributed to practice effects is similar to the curve shown here, indicating that the rate of learning slows down as the amount of learning increases, until eventually learning peaks at a stable level. Rate of learning slows as amount of learning increases

Habituation Decrease in responsiveness when exposed to a repeated stimulus People who smoke do not notice the smell of cigarettes on their clothes, but nonsmokers do People get used to hearing the chiming of their clocks

Change in familiar stimuli causes one to notice it again Dishabituation Change in familiar stimuli causes one to notice it again Smokers who quit, suddenly notice how much their clothes smell of smoke If clock breaks, suddenly owner notices the clock isn’t chiming

Habituation/Dishabituation Paradigm Allows psychologists to test abilities of Infants and animals Measure subject’s arousal to see if a change occurs when pattern or sound is changed If animal or infant dishabituates to a change, then they can detect the change If the animal or infant does not dishabituate to a change in stimuli, they did not detect the change Powerful paradigm allows us to detect abilities of different species and infants since we can measure their arousal to different stimuli to detect whether they notice.

Functions of Conscious Attention Signal Detection Searching Selective Attention Divided Attention Outline for conscious attention topics.

Signal Detection Theory (SDT)   Present Absent Hit False Alarm Miss Correct Rejection Decision Explain this theory using an example: Radar detection, shower and phone ringing, fire truck visibility (Color as a property of signal detection), driver vigilance and fatigue, detecting Cancer through self-examinations. Also discuss how changing sensitivity criterion can influence number of hits or false alarms.

Vigilance and SDT Vigilance is attending to a set of stimuli over a length of time in order to detect a target signal Vigilance decreases rapidly over time (fatigue), thus misses and false alarms increase Using examples discuss how Vigilance is importance to maintain.

Search Actively searching for a target Number of targets and distracters influence accuracy Feature search versus conjunctive search Define basics of searching. Explain the difference between conjunctive search versus feature search, the following slides will provide a demonstration. Feature search: environment is scanned for one particular feature. Conjunction Search: A combination of features is scanned for.

Conjunctive vs. Feature Search Which box is it easier to detect a letter that is different? The box on top is a feature search The box on the bottom is a conjunction search L O L T

Treisman’s Feature-Integration Theory Individual Feature processing is done in parallel. Simultaneous processing is done on the whole display and if feature is present-- we detect it. Conjunctive searching requires attention to the integration or combination of the features. Attention to particular combination of features must be done sequentially to detect presence of a certain combination. Explain parallel processing means all at once. Describe how sequential processing is different.

Another Feature Search Is there a red T in the Display? T T T T T T T T Target is defined by a single feature According to feature integration theory the Target should “pop out” No attention required T T T T T T T T T

Another Conjunction Search Is there a red T in the Display? X T X T Target is defined by two Features: shape and color According to FIT, the features must be combined and so attention is required Need to examine one by one X T T X X T X X T T T

Similarity Theory Disagrees with Treisman’s FIT theory Similarity between targets and distracters is important; not number of features to be combined The more shared features among items in display, the more difficult to detect a particular target Some findings cannot be explained by FIT

Guided Search Cave and Wolf (1990) All searches have 2 phases Parallel phase Serial stage

Selectivity of Attention Cocktail Party Problem How are we able to follow one conversation in the presence of other conversations?

Cherry’s Shadowing Technique Cherry’s Shadowing Technique Attended Ear Unattended Ear The doctor went to the park to find the homeless man. He was The lawyer defended his client as the trial began. He was able …..The doctor went to the park….. Explain difference between Binaural and Dichotic. Listen to two different conversations and repeat one of the messages, may be binaural or dichotic

Cherry’s Study Results Cherry’s Study Results Noticed in unattended ear: Change in gender Change to a tone Did not notice in unattended ear: Changed language Changed topic, same speaker If speech was played backwards

Models of Selective Attention Models of Selective Attention Do they have a filter? Where does the filter occur?

Broadbent’s Model Only one sensory channel is allowed to proceed Broadbent’s Model Sensory Stores Sensory Filter Working Memory Should be equivalent to Figure 4.6 in text. Explain how Broadbent’s model explains Cherry’s data. Only one sensory channel is allowed to proceed Stimuli filtered at sensory level Long Term Memory

Broadbent’s Model Could Not Explain Broadbent’s Model Could Not Explain Participant’s name gets through Participants can shadow meaningful messages that switches from one ear to another Effects of practice on detecting information in unattended ear (e.g., detect digit in unattended ear for naïve and practiced participants)

Treisman Attenuation Model Treisman Attenuation Model Attenuation of Unattended Working Memory Sensory Stores Filter weakens the strength of unattended information. Arrow colors represent different levels of strength If arrow reaches circle, info will be activated in working memory Note some circles are closer due to different thresholds of information Should be equivalent to Figure 4.5 in text. Explain how Treisman can now account for additional findings. Yellow arrow indicates information is being attended and the filter makes this strong, the pumpkin colored arrow is less strong and the orange arrow is made the weakest. The message of the pumpkin colored arrow may still get through due to the lower threshold (closer to the arrow). Long Term Memory

Late Selection Theory All stimuli is processed to the level of Late Selection Theory Sensory Stores Working Memory Pertinence = task demands and personal importance. All stimuli is processed to the level of meaning; relevance determines further Processing and action Deutsch & Deutsch (1963) Long Term Memory

Multimode Theory Johnston & Heinz (1978) Difficulty of a task is determined by when the selection takes place

Neisser’s Synthesis Preattentive Processes Attentive Processes Parallel Note physical characteristics Attentive Processes Controlled processes occur serially Occur in working memory

Attentional-Resource Theories Explain the basic concept of attentional resource theory. Capacity Theories: limited amount of resources available to conduct tasks (Kahneman, 1973), or individual pools for each modality (Navon & Gopher, 1979) Model A represents Kahneman (1973) model Model B represents individual pools for each modality

Stroop Effect red yellow green blue red blue yellow green blue red Say the color the words are printed in as quickly as you can What errors do you make? Reading interferes with your ability to state the color and your reaction time is slower Just click the mouse once and the stroop words will appear at a gradual pace. What errors do you make? Discuss how it is interference. What do you think would happen: If you tried this experiment with a very small child who had not yet learned to read? If you tried this experiment with someone who was just learning to speak English? If you used the same order of ink colors but wrote non-color words?

Divided Attention How many tasks can you do at once? e.g. driving & talking, radio, phone...

Dual Task Paradigm Task 1 may require a verbal response to an auditory stimulus Task 2 may require a participant to push a button in response to a visual stimulus. Results indicate that responses to the second task are delayed

Real Life Dual Task Driving and Cell phones Adjusting music Watching the scenery Almost 80 % of crashes and 65 % of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds of the event

Strayer & Drews (2007) Naturalistic Observation of cell phone use and driver behavior   Failed to stop Stopped properly On Cell Phone 82 28 No Cell Phone 352 1286 Strayer, D. L. & Drews, F. A. (In Press). Multi-tasking in the automobile. To appear in A. Kramer, D. Wiegmann, & A. Kirlik (Eds.) Applied Attention: From Theory to Practice

Strayer & Drews (2007) Results Impact of hands free cell phone conversations on simulated driving: Cell-phone conversation led to inattentional-blindness Even if they looked at an object, participant did not remember the object

Complex Mental Processes Complex Mental Processes Access to conscious Mental Processes Some say we do (Ericsson & Simon) Some say we do not (Nisbett & Wilson) Evidence on both sides: Protocol analysis Change Blindness A good question to ask students is about the change blindness study. If they have read the text before class they will know the answer and it should be memorable because it is such a surprising result. Ask the class, “If this were you… what do you think would happen?” If you were asking a stranger for directions and then two people with a door walked between you, would you notice if the person you were speaking to was different? As noted in Sternberg’s text, half the subjects didn’t notice. http://aris.ss.uci.edu/cogsci/personnel/hoffman/cb.html allows you to experience change blindness yourself. Hyperlink will only work if you are connected to the internet. This link cannot be used in presentation, but students can be given the link to watch individually.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Symptoms Inattention Hyperactivity Impulsivity Not everyone who is overly hyperactive, inattentive, or impulsive has ADHD Behavior must be demonstrated to a degree that is inappropriate for the person's age National Institute of Mental Health http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/adhd.cfm Cited in text as information on ADHD.

Spatial Neglect Lesion on one side of brain causes person to ignore half of their visual field

Posner & Attention Two attention systems; two functions Posner & Attention Two attention systems; two functions Anterior frontal lobe system Tasks requiring awareness (planning or writing) Posterior parietal lobe system Tasks involving visuospatial abilities (playing Tetris, vigilance tasks) Head of the Center for the Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention, based at the University of Oregon, Posner has conducted positron emission tomography (PET) studies of normal persons responding to various stimuli. Reported in Current-Directions (Vol. 1, No. 1), the studies show there are two main centers of attention functions: Posterior parietal lobe of the cortex. First in play, it is crucial to orienting visual attention and shifting it from one location to another. It improves the efficiency of information gathering at any location by enhancing the function of individual brain cells, seen in increased blood flow during PET scans. This area recognizes patterns and visual word forms. Right frontal cortex. This area is crucial to maintaining alertness, as shown by activation on PET scans during tests of sustained vigilance. The area also detects meaning in language and other modalities. An alerting network, made up of fibers that respond to norepinephrine, links the two areas from back to front. The neurotransmitter provokes the system to pick up sensory signals and detect new targets. Posner believes that attention deficit disorder may result from damage to this alerting network.

ERP and Attention Changes in electrical activity noted Method enables localization of attentional processes in the brain