The feature present/feature-absent effect is a good example of which cognitive processes theme?

Presentation on theme: "Attention & Consciousness cont."— Presentation transcript:

1 Attention & Consciousness cont.
Stephanie Tobin, Phd

2 Last Class Types of Attention
Divided Selected We ended by discussing types of selected attention tasks

3 Today’s Class Continuation of Attention Discussion Consciousness
Types of selective attention tasks cont. Explanations for Attention Consciousness Midterm structure and sample questions

4 Selective Attention: Visual Search
Factors influencing visual search: Frequency: More able to identify object that appears frequently (e.g., target represent in same background) Isolated-feature/Combined feature effect Feature-present/Feature-absent effect

5 Selective Attention: Visual Search
Isolated-feature/Combined-feature effect Treisman & Gelade (1980) Part. able to quickly detect target when it differed from irrelevant items with respect to a simple feature e.g.: Color Same time to detect for A1 and A2 Search for the blue X again Now there is a big difference Must search each irrelevant stimuli Combined features

6 Selective Attention: Visual Search
Feature-present/Feature-absent effect Our cognitive processes handle positive information better than negative information Positive = Feature is present (bottom-up) Negative = Feature is absent (bottom-up and top-down) Based on Treisman & Souther (1985) Royden et al. (2001) Easier to spot a moving target if distractors still than a still Target if distractors moving

7 Selective Attention: Saccadic Eye Movements During Reading
Saccade Rapid movement of eyes (jumps) Brings fovea over word

8 Selective Attention: Saccadic Eye Movements During Reading
Selective attention in that this is an active search for new information (the words that are to be read) Each saccade brings eyes forward 7-9 letters Eyes alternate between jumps and pauses Information processed during fixation (pause)

9 Selective Attention: Saccadic Eye Movements During Reading
Perceptual Span Number of letters and spaces perceived during fixation 15 letters to the right of fixation and 4 letters to the left for English Lopsided We are looking for cues about what is to come (e.g., spaces and word length) Saccades have predictable patterns Jump to center of word Jump past short or frequent words Small saccades if next word is misspelled Good readers have larger saccades and make fewer regressions

10 Explanations for Attention
Similar brain regions activated which paying attention and during visual object recognition Importance of cortex in attentional processes The Orienting Attention Network Executive Attention Network

11 Explanations for Attention: The Orienting Attention Network
Involved in selecting information from sensory input (Visual search) Develops in first year Importance of the parietal lobe Evidence from stroke victims (lesions) and PET scans Unilateral spatial neglect

12 Explanations for Attention: Executive Attention Network
The Executive Attention Network is responsible for the kind of attention required when task focuses on conflict (e.g., Stroop Task) Top down control of attention Network begins to develop around age 3 Importance of the prefrontal cortex Network overlaps with areas of the brain related to general intelligence

13 Explanations for Attention: Theories of Attention
Bottleneck Theories Early approach to attention Focused on limitations of attention Bottleneck limits information we can attend to As one message flows through bottleneck other information is left behind Theory rejected: Information not lost at one point

14 Explanations for Attention: Feature-Integration
Feature-Integration Theory (Anne Treisman) The basic elements (continuum) distributed attention register features automatically parallel processing identify features simultaneously low-level processing focused attention slower serial processing identify one object at a time complex objects identify which features belong together

15 Explanations for Attention: Feature-Integration
Research supports both types of attention Related to Feature-integration: Illusory conjunction inappropriate combination of features occurs when attention is overloaded or distracted features processed independently binding problem (e.g., an apple) illusory conjunctions with printed and verbal material Hear dax and kay, report day role of top-down processing

16 Consciousness

17 Consciousness Consciousness is related to but not identical to attention Consciousness is the awareness people have about the outside world and their perceptions, images, thoughts, memories, and feelings Attention is the concentration of mental activity that allows you to take in a limited portion of the vast stream of information available from both the sensory world and memory

18 Consciousness Consciousness is associated with
Controlled, focused attention NOT automatic (Distributed Attention) Scientists have focused on: Our inability to bring thoughts into consciousness Our inability to let certain thoughts escape from our consciousness Blindsight

19 Consciousness: Inability to Bring Thoughts into Consciousness
Have you ever done something without realizing you are doing it? Automatic unconscious behavior No conscious awareness of higher order mental processes E.g.: Mindless Reading and mind wandering Nisbett and Wilson (1977) argued that we have little direct access to our thought processes Conscious of product of thought process but not actual processes ? E.g.: What is your mother’s first name? How did you know this?

20 Consciousness: Thought Suppression
Don’t think about ….. This is hard Thought suppression—the attempt to eliminate thoughts, ideas, and images related to an undesirable stimulus Wegner et al. (1987) Don’t think about a white bear for 5 min Think about a white bear for 5 min More thinking about a white bear during second period than control group only asked to think about a white bear Ironic Effect of Mental Control or Rebound Effect

21 Consciousness: Blindsight
Blindsight refers to vision without awareness Individual has damage to visual cortex But, accurate performance of a visual task Stimulus presented to visual field (region corresponding to visual cortex damage) Spot of light Reported as not seen but greater than chance detection Can also report visual attributes (i.e., color, shape)

22 Consciousness: Blindsight
What is happening? Suggests visual cortex is responsible for conscious awareness Also suggest retinal information travels to regions other than the visual cortex These other cortical locations are important for registering visual information

23 Midterm I FeB 3rd, 2016

24 Midterm Exam: Feb 3rd Exam will cover Exam Structure
All class material up to and including this lecture Textbook Chapters 1, 2, 7 and 3 Exam Structure 40 multiple choice (40 marks) 5 Fill-in the blanks (10 marks) 2 Short Answer question (10 marks)

25 Midterm Exam: Feb 3rd For exam Bring pencil and eraser
No cellphones or electronic devices Leave bags and other personal belongings at the front of the room Please bring student ID or know student ID number

26 Midterm Exam: Multiple Choice Examples
1. If your mental image of your aunt's face is stored in an analog code, a. thinking about the image would produce increased blood flow throughout your frontal cortex b. the representation would resemble the specific features and facial arrangement found on your aunt's face c. the code would include language-like descriptions of the most important attributes of her face d. that image would be represented in terms of both the alignment and the rotation heuristics e. all of the above

27 Midterm Exam: Multiple Choice Examples
2. Chris just telephoned Roberta and listed eight items that they need for the afternoon picnic. Roberta didn't have a pencil, so she couldn't write them down. However, she remembers the last three items very well because of … a. object permanence b. long-term memory c. the primacy effect d. the recency effect e. None of the above

28 Midterm Examples: Fill-in the blanks
1. You have no difficulty distinguishing between the letters O and W, but it takes longer to distinguish between the letters O and Q. Which theory of object recognition does this support? ___feature analysis theory___ 2. ____perception__ relies on both bottom-up and top-down processing where as imagery relies exclusively on __top-down____ processing.

29 Midterm Exam: Open Answer Question Example
Will be choice Answer 2 out of three questions Example: Explain what is meant by a ‘smart error.’ Provide at least two examples.

What is the current status of the bottleneck theory of attention?

What is being measured in the resting state fMRI method?

What is selective attention quizlet?

When individuals experience divided attention to two or more tasks or activities performed at the same time they engage in?