Cognitive Psychology - Focused attention and visual search
Introduction to attention
The most effective way of conceptualising attention stands on the
observation that there is a vast flow of sensory information at any
given moment that cannot be processed at a cognitive level, and so
must be filtered in some way to allow you to complete your goals
o Attention is perhaps a system to prioritise some of that
information over the rest so that only a small part will receive
various levels of cognitive processing
Attention is limited
There is a number of paradigms including the attentional blink and
inattentional blindness
Inattentional blindness:
o We overestimate how much of the world we are actually
aware of.
o Even very salient things can be missed
Simons and Chabris (1999) showed that even a highly unexpected
event (a gorilla) can be missed when individuals have their attention
directed at a different task.
o For example, when participants were completing a more
difficult task they were more likely to miss the gorilla than if
they were completing a simpler task. This suggests that
attention is a finite resource that we distribute between tasks
we want to complete.
Early studies in auditory attention and the question of the timing
of selection
The cocktail party phenomenon:
o Cherry (1953) created this problem showing that when there
is a gathering with multiple people and multiple
conversations, and observer is able to focus in on a single
discussion while ignoring the numerous other discussions. In
fact, we are able to move in and out of the other
conversations.
Researchers have tried to study this using the dichotic listening
task:
o Participants wear headphones and are presented with two
independent audio streams to the different ears.
o Typically, the participant can be asked to monitor a single
stream for a particular target.
o In a version of the task called shadowing, participants are
asked to repeat out loud the target stream.
, Using this task Cherry reported that participants can perform the
task accurately as long as there is a physical difference between the
two streams
o One will be in a low pitch and the other in a high pitch
It was also evident that participants had almost no awareness of the
content of the ignored stream
Johnsrude et al. (2013) found that we are better at solving the
cocktail party problem if the voices are familiar. You are better at
paying attention to and ignoring a familiar voice.
o This shows the importance of top-down processes/experiences
in focused attention.
o It also shows the importance of bottom-up physical differences
Based on those early findings Broadbent (1958) developed his
theory of attention selection:
o According to Broadbent, sensory input reaches the system in
parallel. A filter is then applied to the input based on physical
attributes, so that only a single input can be processed and
reach awareness.
o He suggested that this filter occurs early on so that the
filtered-out input received very little processing.
However, Broadbent’s model has some trouble explaining some
conflicting findings:
o Von Wright, Anderson and Stenman (1975) found that words
that were that were previously associated with electric shock
could elicit a physiological reaction when they were presented
in the ignored stream – which implies that the words were in
fact processed and identified
o In addition many participants did pick up the mention of their
own name when it is presented in the ignored stream
o All these findings indicate that in certain conditions the
content of the ignored stream seems to be processed
semantically
Deutsch and Deutsch argued that attention is late selection – i.e. we
process basically everything through cognitive processes but
attention selects one item for behaviour.
o However, there is not a lot of evidence for this idea.
In attempt to explain the above findings, Treisman (1964) proposed
a different theory of attention selection – the attenuation theory.
o Treisman suggested that the filter is not an all-or-none
mechanism but rather serves to attenuate currently
irrelevant, to-be-ignored input.
o All input goes through a hierarchy of processing from physical
features up to meaning.
o However, there is a limit in terms of the capacity, ignored
input will stop being processed when the capacity limit has
Introduction to attention
The most effective way of conceptualising attention stands on the
observation that there is a vast flow of sensory information at any
given moment that cannot be processed at a cognitive level, and so
must be filtered in some way to allow you to complete your goals
o Attention is perhaps a system to prioritise some of that
information over the rest so that only a small part will receive
various levels of cognitive processing
Attention is limited
There is a number of paradigms including the attentional blink and
inattentional blindness
Inattentional blindness:
o We overestimate how much of the world we are actually
aware of.
o Even very salient things can be missed
Simons and Chabris (1999) showed that even a highly unexpected
event (a gorilla) can be missed when individuals have their attention
directed at a different task.
o For example, when participants were completing a more
difficult task they were more likely to miss the gorilla than if
they were completing a simpler task. This suggests that
attention is a finite resource that we distribute between tasks
we want to complete.
Early studies in auditory attention and the question of the timing
of selection
The cocktail party phenomenon:
o Cherry (1953) created this problem showing that when there
is a gathering with multiple people and multiple
conversations, and observer is able to focus in on a single
discussion while ignoring the numerous other discussions. In
fact, we are able to move in and out of the other
conversations.
Researchers have tried to study this using the dichotic listening
task:
o Participants wear headphones and are presented with two
independent audio streams to the different ears.
o Typically, the participant can be asked to monitor a single
stream for a particular target.
o In a version of the task called shadowing, participants are
asked to repeat out loud the target stream.
, Using this task Cherry reported that participants can perform the
task accurately as long as there is a physical difference between the
two streams
o One will be in a low pitch and the other in a high pitch
It was also evident that participants had almost no awareness of the
content of the ignored stream
Johnsrude et al. (2013) found that we are better at solving the
cocktail party problem if the voices are familiar. You are better at
paying attention to and ignoring a familiar voice.
o This shows the importance of top-down processes/experiences
in focused attention.
o It also shows the importance of bottom-up physical differences
Based on those early findings Broadbent (1958) developed his
theory of attention selection:
o According to Broadbent, sensory input reaches the system in
parallel. A filter is then applied to the input based on physical
attributes, so that only a single input can be processed and
reach awareness.
o He suggested that this filter occurs early on so that the
filtered-out input received very little processing.
However, Broadbent’s model has some trouble explaining some
conflicting findings:
o Von Wright, Anderson and Stenman (1975) found that words
that were that were previously associated with electric shock
could elicit a physiological reaction when they were presented
in the ignored stream – which implies that the words were in
fact processed and identified
o In addition many participants did pick up the mention of their
own name when it is presented in the ignored stream
o All these findings indicate that in certain conditions the
content of the ignored stream seems to be processed
semantically
Deutsch and Deutsch argued that attention is late selection – i.e. we
process basically everything through cognitive processes but
attention selects one item for behaviour.
o However, there is not a lot of evidence for this idea.
In attempt to explain the above findings, Treisman (1964) proposed
a different theory of attention selection – the attenuation theory.
o Treisman suggested that the filter is not an all-or-none
mechanism but rather serves to attenuate currently
irrelevant, to-be-ignored input.
o All input goes through a hierarchy of processing from physical
features up to meaning.
o However, there is a limit in terms of the capacity, ignored
input will stop being processed when the capacity limit has
