Introduction to psychology
21/02/20 Attention
William James (1842-1910)
“Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid
form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought.
Focalization, concentration or consciousness are aware of its essence. It implies withdrawal
from some things in order to deal effectively with others”.
Attention
Filtering
Selecting
Binding
Focusing
Enhancing.
Means of attentional selection
Attentional blink
Is there a red letter AND a ‘K’?
Detecting Target 1 can lead to missing Target 2
K
T
Implications
H
X
, A
When attention is taxed, information can fail to reach awareness.
Controlling attentional selection
Attentional filtering
Stroop test (Stroop, 1935)
Read the following COLOURS out loud:
LECTURE YELLOW RED
UWE ORANGE BLUE
CAT GREEN GREEN
ESSAY RED YELLOW
KAIT BLUE GREEN
Can’t ‘filter’ out colour or meaning.
A selective reading task
Read only the text that is in bold green.
21/02/20 Attention
William James (1842-1910)
“Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid
form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought.
Focalization, concentration or consciousness are aware of its essence. It implies withdrawal
from some things in order to deal effectively with others”.
Attention
Filtering
Selecting
Binding
Focusing
Enhancing.
Means of attentional selection
Attentional blink
Is there a red letter AND a ‘K’?
Detecting Target 1 can lead to missing Target 2
K
T
Implications
H
X
, A
When attention is taxed, information can fail to reach awareness.
Controlling attentional selection
Attentional filtering
Stroop test (Stroop, 1935)
Read the following COLOURS out loud:
LECTURE YELLOW RED
UWE ORANGE BLUE
CAT GREEN GREEN
ESSAY RED YELLOW
KAIT BLUE GREEN
Can’t ‘filter’ out colour or meaning.
A selective reading task
Read only the text that is in bold green.
