PSYCH 1X03 - Attention Test Questions and Answers Fully Solved Latest Update 2025-2026
William James on attention - Answers taking possession of the mind by several simultaneously
possible objects or trains of thoughts... implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal
effectively with others
selection - Answers the act of attending to an object to select it apart from the unattended
objects; can be automatic or voluntary
conscious selection - Answers actively selecting where to focus; conscious attention relative to
goals
role of irrelevant stimuli (+example) - Answers fading of sensations into the background noise
of stimuli competing for your attention as you go on with your day (ex: you only feel the fabric of
your clothes when you first put them on)
automatic stimuli grabbing your attention (in relation to relevant stimuli) - Answers acts as a
noise that can make it difficult to identify and attend relevant stimuli
what determines where our attention is directed? - Answers two processes: automatic &
controlled
automatic processes - Answers triggered involuntary by external events, "capture" your attention,
fast, efficient, obligatory
controlled processes - Answers guide attention voluntarily and consciously to objects of interest,
slower because they require more cognitive effort, effortful
describe attention as a limited pool of resources and how this can affect our ability to
consciously direct it - Answers it is difficult to consciously attend to many aspects of the task-
environment at the same time because resources are limited for controlled processing
as attention demands increase, how do we maintain performance? - Answers adjustments are
made to compensate to prevent decrease in performance on all tasks
salience (+example) - Answers information that naturally 'pops-out' to you; automatic;
noticeable cues leading to stronger & quicker association when paired with events (ex:
emergency vehicle lights are hard to miss)
Spotlight Model - Answers your attentional spotlight only focuses on part of the environment at
a time; objects within the spotlight are processed with faster reaction times and at a higher
accuracy as they are more strongly attended to than objects outside the spotlight
our attentional spotlight is automatically attracted to... - Answers cues
cueing paradigms use - Answers measure changes in attention
, Target & flashing boxes cueing paradigm set up - Answers two boxes on a monitor - a box
would flash (cue) before showing the target... target might appear in the cued or un-cued box -
then measure speed of target location detection
results when target appears in flashed box (+what this suggests) - Answers subjects tended to
detect target location faster; suggests flashing box automatically attracts attentional spotlight
to that cued location - then attention will amplify the perceptual processing of the target in that
box (faster)
results when target appears in un-cued box (+what this suggests) - Answers target location is
detected more slowly because the spotlight is directed away from the actual target location
what shifts faster: attention or the eye? - Answers attention (it does not immediately rely on
sight)
Cocktail Party Effect - Answers at a cocktail party, you are surrounded by many different
attention-competing sounds & stimuli, but you are still able to have a conversation AND respond
when your name is called from the background noise
Colin Cherry (what he did & his findings) - Answers did work on Cocktail Party Effect; found that
the ability to separate target sounds from background noise is based on physical
characteristics like the gender of the speaker, direction of speaker and pitch/speed of speech
we use auditory cues to filter... - Answers target sounds from background noise
Filter Model - Answers attention processes act as a filter - only allowing important/relevant
information through; our attention helps us ignore background stimuli and allow relevant stimuli
to continue on for further processing
Broadbent's Filter Model - Answers single filter model; attentional filter selects important
information on the basis of physical characteristics and allows that information to continue on
for further processing
what did Broadbent assume about what happened to information not passing through the single
attentional filter? - Answers information assumed to be completely eliminated & unavailable for
deeper analysis for meaning & semantic
dichotic listening paradigm (+results) - Answers headphones with different messages played in
each ear; subject must repeat message in selected attended ear; most subjects process nothing
from unattended ear (even when language changed)
evidence supporting Broadbent's model - Answers dichotic listening paradigm results because
the filter only allows information through attended ear to deeper processing
limitations of Broadbent's model - Answers assumes there is NO additional processing of
unattended signals whatsoever which is not true (Von Wright proved this); Breakthrough
William James on attention - Answers taking possession of the mind by several simultaneously
possible objects or trains of thoughts... implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal
effectively with others
selection - Answers the act of attending to an object to select it apart from the unattended
objects; can be automatic or voluntary
conscious selection - Answers actively selecting where to focus; conscious attention relative to
goals
role of irrelevant stimuli (+example) - Answers fading of sensations into the background noise
of stimuli competing for your attention as you go on with your day (ex: you only feel the fabric of
your clothes when you first put them on)
automatic stimuli grabbing your attention (in relation to relevant stimuli) - Answers acts as a
noise that can make it difficult to identify and attend relevant stimuli
what determines where our attention is directed? - Answers two processes: automatic &
controlled
automatic processes - Answers triggered involuntary by external events, "capture" your attention,
fast, efficient, obligatory
controlled processes - Answers guide attention voluntarily and consciously to objects of interest,
slower because they require more cognitive effort, effortful
describe attention as a limited pool of resources and how this can affect our ability to
consciously direct it - Answers it is difficult to consciously attend to many aspects of the task-
environment at the same time because resources are limited for controlled processing
as attention demands increase, how do we maintain performance? - Answers adjustments are
made to compensate to prevent decrease in performance on all tasks
salience (+example) - Answers information that naturally 'pops-out' to you; automatic;
noticeable cues leading to stronger & quicker association when paired with events (ex:
emergency vehicle lights are hard to miss)
Spotlight Model - Answers your attentional spotlight only focuses on part of the environment at
a time; objects within the spotlight are processed with faster reaction times and at a higher
accuracy as they are more strongly attended to than objects outside the spotlight
our attentional spotlight is automatically attracted to... - Answers cues
cueing paradigms use - Answers measure changes in attention
, Target & flashing boxes cueing paradigm set up - Answers two boxes on a monitor - a box
would flash (cue) before showing the target... target might appear in the cued or un-cued box -
then measure speed of target location detection
results when target appears in flashed box (+what this suggests) - Answers subjects tended to
detect target location faster; suggests flashing box automatically attracts attentional spotlight
to that cued location - then attention will amplify the perceptual processing of the target in that
box (faster)
results when target appears in un-cued box (+what this suggests) - Answers target location is
detected more slowly because the spotlight is directed away from the actual target location
what shifts faster: attention or the eye? - Answers attention (it does not immediately rely on
sight)
Cocktail Party Effect - Answers at a cocktail party, you are surrounded by many different
attention-competing sounds & stimuli, but you are still able to have a conversation AND respond
when your name is called from the background noise
Colin Cherry (what he did & his findings) - Answers did work on Cocktail Party Effect; found that
the ability to separate target sounds from background noise is based on physical
characteristics like the gender of the speaker, direction of speaker and pitch/speed of speech
we use auditory cues to filter... - Answers target sounds from background noise
Filter Model - Answers attention processes act as a filter - only allowing important/relevant
information through; our attention helps us ignore background stimuli and allow relevant stimuli
to continue on for further processing
Broadbent's Filter Model - Answers single filter model; attentional filter selects important
information on the basis of physical characteristics and allows that information to continue on
for further processing
what did Broadbent assume about what happened to information not passing through the single
attentional filter? - Answers information assumed to be completely eliminated & unavailable for
deeper analysis for meaning & semantic
dichotic listening paradigm (+results) - Answers headphones with different messages played in
each ear; subject must repeat message in selected attended ear; most subjects process nothing
from unattended ear (even when language changed)
evidence supporting Broadbent's model - Answers dichotic listening paradigm results because
the filter only allows information through attended ear to deeper processing
limitations of Broadbent's model - Answers assumes there is NO additional processing of
unattended signals whatsoever which is not true (Von Wright proved this); Breakthrough
