Exam 8: Attention and Reaction Time

They psychological refractory period refers to the difference in time onsets between the presentation of two different stimuli.

In order to manipulate attention, psychologists gradually increase task demands until the subject can hardly complete them. This is known as

Central bottleneck explanations for the psychological refractory period predict that

A researcher records mean response time in milliseconds for a group of participants who perform a Donders A task and a Donders C task under two conditions. In one condition, they do the reaction time tasks alone; in the other condition, they perform the two tasks while doing a secondary attentionally demanding task at the same time. Reaction times for the Donders A task are the same for both conditions of the experiment; however, reaction times for the Donders C task are longer when the secondary task is being performed. Using the subtractive method, these results suggest

When they are instructed to respond as quickly as possible, the error rate of participants may increase.

In the Donders' B (or choice) reaction task, two stimuli are linked to one response.

Reaction times in a Donders A task are longer than reaction times in a Donders C task.

Discuss what is meant by a speed-accuracy trade-off. Is this an important consideration for researchers? Why or why not?

An interaction occurs when error rate and reaction time are inversely related.

Discuss the following statement: Attention must be studied by measuring its effects. In your answer, give examples from at least two different experiments discussed in the chapter that illustrate this.

Studies that measure RT should also record error rate, because errors tend to be lower when a task is completed quickly.

When more than one independent variable can account for obtained results, we say that the variables interact.

The dependent measure "bits" is a measure of

Reaction time is the most common dependent variable in studies of attention.

An experimenter predicts that using a warning signal in a different sensory modality will result in faster reaction time than using a warning signal in the same sensory modality. In a simple reaction time experiment, participants must press a button as quickly as possible when a red light comes on. On half of the trials, a yellow light comes on 500 ms before the red light; on the remaining trials, a tone comes on 500 ms before the red light. The results show a significant difference in reaction time between the two conditions. Which of the following statements is accurate?

Steinhauser, Maier, and Hubner (2007) found an interaction between stress levels and cue-stimulus interval on a reaction time task.

Interest in reaction time began with phenomena discovered among eighteenth-century astronomers.

When the effects of an independent variable are different at different levels of another independent variable, there is an interaction between the variables.

The capacity-sharing model is considered the better explanation for the psychological refractory period because

An interaction occurs when more than one independent variable is manipulated in an experiment and the results depend upon the combination of these variables.