Quiz+Number+2

 >> //What was the researchers question?// >> What changes in perceptual processing occur when observers covertly shift their attention to a specific location in space? Specifically, do such attentional shifts lead to more sensitive processing of stimuli in the location attended to? >> //How did the researchers answer the question?// >> In this experiment participants used a computer cue to covertly shift their attention to an expected location, thus readying their perceptual system to detect information there. When the cue led participants to shift attention to the wrong location, their perceptual system was less ready to detect information at the correct location, thus slowing detection. >> The dependent variable was the speed of target detection, measured in milliseconds. The independent variable was the type of cue given: valid (arrows correctly predicted the target location); invalid (arrows pointed the wrong way); or neutral (no guidance). >> //What did the researchers find?// >> The stimulus was detected significantly faster when the cues were valid. Invalid cues led to a shift in attention in the wrong direction resulting in much slower detection of the stimulus. >> //What do the results mean?// >> Attention can enhance the processing of information at one retinal location; it does so at the expense of processing information elsewhere. >> //What do we still need to know?// >> How quickly can we shift attention from one location to another and between sensory modalities? We need to understand the efficiency with which we are able to deal with the potential overload of stimuli that reach our sensory receptors. >>> //NOTE:// Very familiar stimuli (e.g., your name) more effectively compete for your attention. >>> //NOTE:// Increased difficulty of a task interferes with the ability to perform other tasks. Stress tends to restrict attention. >>> //NOTE:// A //dichotic listening task// occurs when different messages are played into each ear. If people //shadow// one message, they can say almost nothing about the other message, including whether it was in English, another language, or nonsense syllables. >>> //NOTE:// In virtual reality systems, the user wears a computer-generated display as a mask that senses head movements. Using this movement information, the computer creates an image of wherever the user looks in the virtual world. The user may also wear data gloves that can both sense hand position (and so display a virtual hand to the eyes) and provide sensations to the fingertips, creating the perception of touch when the virtual hand makes contact with a virtual object.
 * 1) ATTENTION
 * 2) **Attention** is the process of directing and focusing certain psychological resources to enhance perception, performance, and mental experience. Attention //directs// our sensory and perceptual systems toward certain stimuli,//selects// specific information for further processing, //ignores// or screens out unwanted stimuli, //allocates// the mental energy to do the processing, and //regulates// the flow of resources necessary for performing a task or coordinating several tasks at once.
 * 3) Attention has three characteristics.
 * 4) It improves mental processing.
 * 5) It requires //effort//. Sustained attention leaves one feeling mentally drained.
 * 6) Attentional resources are //limited//. Thus, one may be forced to select which things will receive attention and which will not.
 * 7) //Overt orienting// involves shifting attention by pointing sensory systems at a particular stimulus. You can also shift attention without moving, //covert orienting//.
 * 8) Focus on Research Methods: An Experiment in Mind Reading.
 * 1) Directing Attention
 * 2) Attention is //selective//, focusing on some stimuli more than others.
 * 3) //Voluntary//, or goal-directed, attention control occurs when you purposely focus it. This reflects top-down processing. //Involuntary//, or stimulus-driven, attention control occurs when a stimulus in the environment captures attention. This is bottom-up processing. Stimulus characteristics that tend to capture attention include abrupt changes in lighting or color, movement, and the appearance of unusual shapes.
 * 1) Ignoring Information
 * 2) //Inattentional blindness// allows us to focus on stimuli occurring in one part of the environment while ignoring stimuli in other parts. Magicians take advantage of this phenomenon whenever they direct our attention elsewhere while making switches that we would otherwise clearly see.
 * 3) Divided Attention occurs when you simultaneously devote mental resources to more than one thing. In fact, it may sometimes be difficult to focus attention on //only// one thing.
 * 4) If one task is //automatic//, it requires less attention, thus making it easier to attend to a second task.
 * 5) Even when two tasks require attention, you may still perform them simultaneously, as long as each taps into different kinds of attentional resources. If two tasks require the same kind of attention, performance on both tasks will suffer.
 * 1) Attention and Automatic Processing
 * 2) The process of actively ignoring certain information will continue to affect your perceptions for some time afterward. In your efforts to ignore certain stimuli, you may create //negative priming//, making you less able to identify other stimuli.
 * 3) //Parallel processing// is the ability to search rapidly for targets in several locations at once. This early feature analysis is automatic, and is thus considered preattentive. The target will quickly pop out if parallel processing is appropriate.
 * 4) //Serial processing// is attentionally focused, step-by-step analysis.
 * 5) Attention and the Brain
 * 6) PET (positron emission tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans detect increased blood flow to regions of the brain associated with the mental processing necessary for the task.
 * 7) Because attention appears to be a linked set of resources that improve information processing at several levels and locations in the brain, no single brain region has been identified as an attention center.
 * 8) APPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH ON PERCEPTION
 * 9) Aviation Psychology
 * 10) In landing an aircraft, normally the pilots bottom-up perceptual cues are accurate. But using instruments at night impairs both bottom-up and top-down processing, leading to a chance for errors. Psychologists analysis of tragedies has led to the prevention of others.
 * 11) Instruments in an airplane cockpit present information that bears little resemblance to the perceptual world. Engineering psychologists have helped to develop displays that present a realistic three-dimensional image of the flight environment. This image more accurately captures the many cues for depth perception that the pilot needs.
 * 12) Auditory perception research has helped create warning signals that are most likely to catch the pilots attention. Special vocabulary and standard phrases help avoid ambiguity. However, the messages are usually short with little redundancy. Noise canceling microphones and visual message displays are new inventions that aid top-down processing by providing more contextual cues.
 * 13) Human-Computer Interaction
 * 14) Engineering psychologists are trying to duplicate depth cues on computer displays.
 * 15) The results of research on attention have been applied to the cursorit blinks to attract your attention. This allows a quick parallel search. Perceptual principles have also guided creation of icons used to represent objects, processes, and commands in computer programs.
 * 16) Psychologists are applying research on perception to make computers easier to use.
 * 1) Traffic Safety
 * 2) Psychologists are involved in the design of night vision displays that make low-visibility targets more easily detectable.
 * 3) Research on divided attention is informing the debate over the use of cell phones while driving. Some evidence suggests that sober drivers using cell phones had poorer performance than legally drunk drivers not on cell phones.
 * 4) Research suggests that using a cell phone while driving is dangerous not only because it can take your eyes off the road and hand off the wheel, but also because the phone conversation competes for the cognitive and attentional resources you need to drive safely.
 * 5) Architecture and Interior Design
 * 6) Perception research can be applied to architecture to make buildings and spaces appear larger.
 * 7) Designers can capitalize on relative size by making windows on upper floors smaller and objects in far corners of lawns smaller, giving the illusion of a taller building and a larger yard space, respectively.
 * 8) Texture has been used in submarines to make them seem larger to their inhabitants.

>> >> >> Taken From: >> **Seventh Edition** >> >> Douglas A. Bernstein - University of South Florida and University of Southampton >> Louis A. Penner - University of South Florida >> Alison Clarke-Stewart - University of California, Irvine >> Edward J. Roy - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ||
 * [[image:http://college.cengage.com/shared/images/spacer.gif width="10" height="3"]] || **Psychology**