06.+Attention

February 27, 2015
 * 06. Attention**

The facts/use of theory Applications
 * Outline**
 * Filters
 * Neglect
 * Weapon focus
 * Mind-wandering
 * Multi-tasking
 * Two kinds of blindness


 * Attention:** the mental process of concentrating effort on a stimulus or event
 * Attention is defined by two basic properties:
 * Attention is limited.
 * Attention is selective.

Selective attention task: Ss respond to one source of information while ignoring another source. Early filter theories: if the message is the same physically, it won't be analyzed further. Late Filter Theories: Movable Filter Theories: Summary of filter theories:
 * Filters/Selection**
 * Example: dichotic listening
 * Subjects hear different things in each ear
 * Subjects shadow one message (repeat what they hear as they listen)
 * Moray (1959): Subjects could not recognize words presented 35 times in the unattended ear.
 * Cherry (1953): Subjects noticed very little about the unattended message
 * Did not notice //meaning//
 * change in language
 * messages played backwards
 * Did notice //physical properties//
 * gender changed
 * message changed to pure tone[[image:Early filter.png width="356" height="137" align="right"]]
 * Information is only analyzed for its physical characteristics
 * Only stimuli that are very distinct physically will make it to the next stage
 * Example: gender change
 * Evidence against early filter theories:
 * Cocktail party effect
 * Moray (1959): played the subject's name in the unattended ear. 33% noticed.
 * Treisman (1960): switched messages in the attended and unattended ear. Many followed message and didn't notice.
 * Tracking meaning in both ears.[[image:late filter.png width="356" height="132" align="right"]]
 * Information is analyzed for physical characteristics and meaning.
 * Only meaning that is relevant will make it to awareness.
 * Example: your name
 * We do both early and late filtering.
 * Filter is early or late depending on your needs and resources.
 * Early-selection: unattended input receives little to no analysis
 * Late-selection: all input receives analysis but only the attended input reaches consciousness is remembered.
 * Movable filter: we use both, depending on the circumstances

Evidence thus far suggests attention is location-based (ex: patients ignore the left) But... Rotate the figure below 180 degrees. What does the patient see? They start with red, but follow red to the left side. Supports an object-based view. Combining the evidence, attention is both object- and location-based.
 * Visual Neglect**
 * Attentional disorder in which patients are unaware or don't respond to objects on one side of space. Usually declines over several weeks.
 * Patients are often unaware of the neglect. It's not like the left is missing. It's like the left can't and has never existed.
 * Example: Mrs. S suffered a severe stroke affecting the right side of her brain. She neglects the left visual field. She will miss food on the left of her plate, only apply lipstick on the right side.
 * Other examples: [[image:line bisection.png width="254" height="84" align="right"]][[image:line cancellation.png width="130" height="197" align="right"]][[image:copying figures.png width="202" height="172" align="right"]]
 * Reading: neglect words on half the page
 * Copying figures
 * Line cancellation: focus attention on the circle, and cross out every line on the page
 * Line-bisection task
 * Mental Line-Bissection Task:
 * Patients with visual neglect misplace the midpoint of a numerical interval when asked to bisect it (for example, stating that five is halfway between two and six) with an error pattern that closely resembles the bisection of physical lines.
 * German artist Anton Raederscheid[[image:artist.png width="177" height="198" align="right"]]
 * Self-portraits during recovery from severe stroke:
 * Ignores left side of canvas
 * Ignores left side of face
 * Gets better gradually

Spatial attention is sometimes thought of as a "searchlight" Negative implications of narrowing the searchlight?
 * Applications**

Johnson & Scott (1976): Participants sat "waiting for the experiment to start." Overhear conversation in another room.
 * Control group
 * Normal conversation
 * Man exits the room holding a grease pen
 * Weapon group
 * Violent conversation (chairs thrown, etc.)
 * Man exits room holding a bloody knife
 * Identification in a photo lineup
 * Control group: 49% correct
 * Weapon group: 33% correct
 * How can selective attention explain this finding?
 * Weapon focus: we focus attention on weapons and fail to attend to other details (including faces)


 * Mind-wandering**
 * Task: read the following text. Press space bar to advance to the next word. Stop if something weird happens.
 * 30% participants didn't notice the gibberish immediately
 * On average 17 spacebar presses after nonsense began
 * Schooler et al (2004): mind-wandering during reading occurs 20-40% of the time
 * Lack of meta-awareness
 * The catch 22: noticing attentional slips requires attention
 * Sometimes you slip back into reading without noticing your mind wandered.
 * Nisbett & Wilson (1977): We can't perceive our own cognitive processes. Unconscious processes produce conscious products.

Sana, Weston, Cepeda (2013):
 * Multitasking**
 * When we feel like we are multitasking we're actually switching between tasks.
 * It's a myth.
 * It generally hurts performance.
 * Experiment 1: Two groups were instructed to take notes on their laptops during a lecture.
 * Group 1: Just took notes
 * Group 2: took notes, and were also required to do additional online tasks
 * Both groups took a test. Group 1 did better.
 * Experiment 2: Confederates were given laptops, asked to take notes and mess around online (email, FB, etc). Participants took notes on paper.
 * Group 1: in view of confederates
 * Group 2: not in view of confederates
 * Group 2 did better.
 * You learn less when...
 * You try to multitask on a laptop
 * You can see someone else trying to multitask on a laptop

Inattentional blindness: it's easy to miss things if we aren't paying attention to them Change blindness: the inability to detect changes in an object or scene. It happens when changes are: Simons and Levin (1997):
 * Two Kinds of Blindness**
 * Drew, Vo, & Wolfe (2013): 24 expert radiologists performed a "familiar lung-nodule detection task"
 * The last 5 slides contained a gorilla, which was visible for about 5 seconds. About 48 times the size of the average nodule
 * 83% of the radiologists missed it
 * 100% of non-radiologists missed it
 * You can look right at something without seeing it
 * Non-continuous: changes are hard to detect when there is a blink or interruption
 * Gradual: changes are hard to detect when they are gradual
 * Person 1 stops a stranger to ask for directions.
 * During the conversation two men cut through with a door.
 * Person 2 continues receiving directions.
 * n-continuous change: changes are hard to detect when there is a blink or interruption