attention
focusing on specific features, objects, or locations or on certain thoughts or activities
attentional capture
a rapid shafting of attention, usually caused by a stimulus such as a loud noise, bright light, or sudden movement
attenuation model of attention
Anne Treisman's model of selective attention that proposes that selection occurs in two stages. In the first stage, an attenuator analyzes the incoming message and lets through the attended message - and also the unattended message, but at a lower (attenu
attenuator
In Treisman's model of selective attention, the attenuator analyzes the incoming message in terms of physical characteristics, language, and meaning
automatic processing
processing that occurs automatically, without the person's intending to do it
Balint's syndrome
a condition caused by brain damage in which a person has difficulty focusing attention on individual objects
binding
process by which features such as color, form, motion, and location are combined to create perception of a coherent object
bottleneck model
model of attention that proposes that incoming information is restricted at some point in processing, so only a portion of the information get through to consciousness
change blindness
difficulty in detecting changes in similar, but slightly different, scenes that are presented one after another
cocktail party effect
the ability to focus on one stimulus while filtering out other stimuli
conjunction search
searching among distractors for a target that involves two or more features
covert attention
occurs when attention is shifted without moving the eyes
dichotic listening
the procedure of presenting one message to the left ear and a different message to the right ear
dictionary unit
a component of Treisman's attenuation model of attention, this processing unit contains stored words and thresholds for activating the words
distraction
occurs when one stimulus interferes with attention to or the processing of another stimulus
divided attention
the ability to pay attention to, or carry out, two or more different tasks simultaneously
early selection model
model of attention that explains selective attention by early filtering out of the unattended message
feature integration theory
an approach to object perception, developed by Anne Treisman, that proposes a sequence of stages in which features are first analyzed and then combined to result in perception of an object
feature search
searching among distractors for a target item that involves detecting one feature
filter model of attention
model of attention that proposes a filter that lets attended stimuli through and blocks some or all of the unattended stimuli
fixation
in problem solving, people's tendency to focus on a specific characteristic of the problem that keeps them from arriving at a solution
focused attention stage
the second stage of Treisman's feature integration theory, attention causes the combination of features into perception of an object
high-load task
a task that uses most or all of a person's resources and so leaves little capacity to handle other tasks
illusory conjunctions
a correlation that appears to exist between two events, when in reality there is no correlation or it is weaker than it is assumed to be
inattentional blindness
not noticing something even though it is in clear view, usually caused by failure to pay attention to the object or the place where the object is located
late selection model of attention
a model of selective attention that proposes that selection of stimuli for final processing does not occur until after the information in the message has been analyzed for meaning
load theory of attention
proposal that the ability to ignore task-irrelevant stimuli depends on the load of the task the person is carrying out
low-load task
a task that uses few resources, leaving some capacity to handle other tasks
overt attention
shifting of attention be moving the eyes
perceptual load
related to the difficulty of a task
preattentive stage
the first stage of Treisman's feature integration theory, in which an object is analyzed into its features
precueing
a procedure in which particpants are given a cue that will usually help them carry out a subsequent task
processing capacity
the amount of information input that a person can handle
saccadic eye movements
eye movements from one fixation point to another
saliency map
map of a scene that indicates the simulus salience of areas and objects in the scene
same-object advantage
occurs when the enhancing effect of attention spreads throughout an object, so that attention to one place on an object results in a facilitation of processing at other places on the object
selective attention
the ability to focus on one message and ignore all others
shadowing
the procedure of repeating a message out loud as it is heard
stimulus salience
bottom-up factors that determine attention to elements of a scene
stroop effect
an effect originally studied be JR. Stroop, using a task in which a person is instructed to respond to one aspect of a stimulus and ignore another aspect
topographic map
each point on a visual stimulus causes activity at a specific location on a brain structure and points next to each other on the stimulus cause activity at points next to each other on a structure
visual scanning
movement of the eyes from one location or object to another
visual search
occurs when a person is looking for one stimulus or object among a number of other stimuli or objects