Deck 12: Attention and Consciousness

Question 1

Which of the following phenomena is the most problematic for a strong early-selection view of attention?

A)Endogenous cuing
B)The cocktail party phenomenon
C)Exogenous cuing
D)Intrusion of the unattended

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In attention experiments,cues that correctly predict the location of the target are called ________,whereas cues that predict other locations are called ________.

A)endogenous / exogenous
B)benefits / costs
C)valid / invalid
D)overt / covert

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following phenomena is the most consciously mediated?

A)Inhibition of return
B)Reflexive attention
C)Exogenous cuing
D)Endogenous cuing

Answer 3

D

Question 4

To explain dichotic listening findings such as the observation that a participant usually notices when his or her own name is embedded in the ignored channel,Treisman (1969)proposed that

A)unattended information is not completely excluded from higher analysis,but merely attenuated.
B)attention can be explained only in terms of late,rather than early,selection mechanisms.
C)relatively unique types of stimuli,such as names,do not require attention for processing.
D)familiar stimuli that have been learned previously by participants do not require attention for processing.

Question 5

Both early- and late-selection models of attention share the idea that

A)a large proportion of incoming sensory information is filtered from further analysis before meaning is extracted.
B)information is excluded from higher-level processing only after stimuli have been identified.
C)the human information processing system cannot fully process every piece of information it receives.
D)semantic encoding and analysis precede selection in information processing.

Question 6

________ is the idea that a stimulus does not have to be completely analyzed before it can be either selected for further processing or rejected as irrelevant.

A)Sensory arousal
B)Dichotic perception
C)Early selection
D)Late selection

Question 7

In one of the earliest studies of visual attention,Helmholtz (1894)constructed a screen on which letters were painted at various distances from the center.Following a brief illumination,he found that

A)he could perceive letters located within the focus of his attention better than letters outside,even when his eyes remained at the center of the screen.
B)although he was unable to remember all the letters on the screen,he could be cued to attend to the top,middle,or bottom row by a tone played just before the illumination.
C)he could perceive letters located within the focus of his attention better than letters outside,but only if he moved his eyes to bring the letters to the center of his visual field.
D)he could remember all the letters on the screen,demonstrating that visual iconic memory increases in capacity with attentional focus.

Question 8

In dichotic listening studies,it has been found that a participant usually notices when his or her own name is embedded in the ignored channel.This finding suggests that

A)selection occurs late in perceptual processing.
B)selection occurs early in perceptual processing.
C)there is a separate cognitive system for name recognition.
D)recognition of familiar stimuli does not require attention.

Question 9

The process of directing one's attention to a specific external stimulus is called

A)vigilance.
B)arousal.
C)orienting.
D)extinction.

Question 10

One finding demonstrated by the Posner spatial cuing task (1980)is that

A)the focus of attention can be moved separately from eye fixation.
B)valid cues cause a slowing in reaction time to detect targets.
C)invalid cues cause a speeding of reaction time to detect targets.
D)neutral cues produce the greatest change in reaction time.

Question 11

The Posner spatial cuing task (1980)showed that cuing participants to the location of an upcoming target

A)increased reaction time to detect the target.
B)decreased reaction time to detect the target.
C)failed to affect reaction time but did increase detection accuracy.
D)failed to affect either reaction time or detection accuracy.

Question 12

During a particularly boring lecture,you carefully note the time on a clock that is mounted on the side wall of the classroom while keeping your eyes fixated on the professor's face.This is an example of

A)covert attention.
B)inhibition of return.
C)extinction.
D)conjunction search.

Question 13

The ability to direct attention independently of gaze or eye fixation is called

A)overt attention.
B)covert attention.
C)the attentional spotlight.
D)visual search.

Question 14

Results of the Posner spatial cuing task showed that cuing participants to the location of an upcoming target decreased their reaction time to detect it because attention enhanced perceptual processing for the target.This finding is most consistent with ________ models of attention.

A)gating
B)bottleneck
C)early-selection
D)late-selection

Question 15

Attention can be divided into two broad categories:

A)neglect and extinction.
B)voluntary and reflexive.
C)cortical and subcortical.
D)conscious and unconscious.

Question 16

________ refers to the ability to choose certain sensory inputs for further information processing while ignoring others.

A)Vigilance
B)Arousal
C)Visual search
D)Selective attention

Question 17

________ is the phenomenon of being able to follow one conversation in the presence of many other simultaneous conversations.

A)Dichotic listening
B)Vigilance
C)The cocktail party effect
D)Binaural listening

Question 18

All of the following describe differences between early-selection and late-selection models of attention EXCEPT

A)early-selection models argue that selection occurs before semantic analysis of incoming stimuli.
B)late-selection models argue that human information processing has limited capacity,whereas early-selection models argue that capacity is unlimited.
C)early-selection models argue that all higher-level information processing requires the use of attention.
D)late-selection models argue that a stimulus may be categorized or even identified before selection.

Question 19

In dichotic listening studies,Cherry (1953)presented competing speech stimuli to each ear and asked participants to verbally "shadow" (immediately report)the signal arriving at one ear while ignoring the other.He found that participants

A)were better at reporting the signal that they found to be more interesting in content,regardless of the ear to which attention had been directed.
B)could accurately report only the content of the signal presented to the ignored ear.
C)accurately recalled only the content of the signal presented to the shadowed ear.
D)were equally accurate at reporting the content of both signals.

Question 20

The term ________ refers to the operations involved when we select for further processing a limited subset of information from the total information available to us from our sensory systems and stored mental representations.

A)arousal
B)vigilance
C)attention
D)cuing

Question 21

On one trial of the Posner spatial cuing task,a flash of light validly cued the location of an upcoming target and enhanced the participant's reaction time to detect that target.Which of the following statements about the participant's subsequent responding to this location is most accurate?

A)Detection of targets that appear in this position on subsequent trials will also be enhanced.
B)Detection of targets that appear in this position on subsequent trials will be unaffected.
C)Detection of targets that appear in this position on subsequent trials will be inhibited from now on.
D)Detection of targets that appear in this position on subsequent trials will be temporarily inhibited.

Question 22

Patients with extinction are unable to detect a visual stimulus presented on the contralesional side of space if

A)the stimulus is presented alone in the visual field.
B)this stimulus is presented at the same time as a stimulus on the ipsilesional side of the visual field.
C)there is no cue that precedes the stimulus.
D)the stimulus is presented with another at a more lateral position in the contralesional visual field.

Question 23

The finding that otoacoustic emissions are modulated by selective attention suggests that

A)the effects of auditory selective attention are limited to the cerebral cortex.
B)the effects of visual selective attention are limited to the cerebral cortex.
C)the mechanical properties of the vocal tract may change in response to attentional control.
D)the mechanical properties of the cochlea may change in response to attentional control.

Question 24

In ERP studies of performance on the dichotic listening task,Hillyard and colleagues (1973)found that attended signals are accompanied by a negative-polarity waveform that is relatively large and appears soon after stimulus onset (within 100 milliseconds of stimulus presentation).This waveform is called the auditory ________ potential.

A)N1
B)P3
C)ERF
D)sensory

Question 25

Techniques such as EEG are particularly well suited to studies of attention.However,one difficulty in using these techniques is that

A)one must also use a structural neuroimaging technique to isolate the source of attentional activation to a specific brain structure.
B)one must also use a functional neuroimaging technique to isolate the source of attentional activation to a specific brain structure.
C)EEG is an expensive and extremely invasive neuroimaging technique.
D)electrical signals in the brain are not affected by the use of focused attention.

Question 26

A patient who had a stroke in her right parietal lobe has extinction as a result of her injury.This person will fail to report a

A)single visual stimulus presented to the contralesional visual field.
B)single visual stimulus presented to the ipsilesional visual field.
C)visual stimulus presented to her contralesional visual field if another stimulus is simultaneously presented to her ipsilesional visual field.
D)visual stimulus presented to her ipsilesional visual field if another stimulus is simultaneously presented to her contralesional visual field.

Question 27

The involuntary failure to attend to sensory stimuli presented in the side of space opposite to the site of brain injury (in the absence of sensory problems)is called the ________ syndrome.

A)agnosia
B)neglect
C)blindsight
D)hemianopia

Question 28

Which of the following statements best summarizes the current general results of studies of visual attention?

A)Directing attention to a visual stimulus causes an overall increase in the activity of visual cortical cells throughout the brain.
B)Directing attention to a visual stimulus can increase the activity of visual cortical cells,but this has been reliably demonstrated only for extrastriate visual regions.
C)Directing attention to a visual stimulus can increase the activity of visual cortical cells,but this has been reliably demonstrated only for neurons in the striate cortex.
D)Directing attention to a visual stimulus can increase the activity of visual cortical cells,but this has been reliably demonstrated only for cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus.

Question 29

The fact that Woldorff and colleagues (1993)found that the auditory N1 waveform is generated by cells in the primary and secondary auditory cortex provides neurophysiological evidence

A)in support of early selection.
B)in support of late selection.
C)that attentional functions are controlled by the temporal lobe.
D)that attentional functions are controlled by cortical rather than subcortical structures.

Question 30

You are looking for a friend who is supposed to meet you in a crowded lecture hall.You know that she is wearing a bright purple sweater and glasses.Which kind of visual search best describes this situation?

A)Conjunction search
B)Feature search
C)Pop-out search
D)Parallel search

Question 31

Visual search for ________ targets requires the use of selective attention,whereas visual search for ________ targets can occur without attention.

A)pop-out / conjunction
B)pop-out / feature
C)conjunction / feature
D)feature / conjunction

Question 32

You are working diligently in the chemistry laboratory when suddenly a small explosion occurs in the rear of the room,immediately and automatically capturing your attention.This is an example of

A)inhibition of return.
B)exogenous cuing.
C)voluntary orienting.
D)early selection.

Question 33

Hillyard and colleagues (1973)recorded event-related potentials (ERP)from participants while they performed a dichotic listening task.When comparing the ERPs collected when participants attended to a given signal to when they ignored this signal,the researchers found that auditory ERPs

A)began later for attended versus unattended signals.
B)began earlier for attended versus unattended signals.
C)were larger for attended versus unattended signals.
D)were smaller for attended versus unattended signals.

Question 34

Research using a voluntary cuing experimental design has shown that

A)attention can be directed to both spatial and nonspatial features of target stimuli,but only by exogenous cues.
B)attention can be directed only to spatial features of target stimuli,and only by exogenous cues.
C)attention can be directed in advance to both spatial and nonspatial features of target stimuli.
D)attention can be directed in advance only to spatial features of target stimuli.

Question 35

The P1 ERP is associated most closely with the

A)direction of attention to the spatial location of a visually presented object.
B)pop-out of feature-based visual targets in visual search.
C)direction of attention to the specific ear through which a particular signal is presented.
D)increased activity of cells in the primary and secondary auditory cortex.

Question 36

Studies of attention employing the P1 waveform and the N1 waveform suggest that

A)both vision and audition involve a late-selection mechanism.
B)both vision and audition involve an early-selection mechanism.
C)visual attention primarily involves early selection,whereas auditory attention primarily involves late selection.
D)auditory attention primarily involves early selection,whereas visual attention primarily involves late selection.

Question 37

The observation that participants are actually slower to detect targets that appear at recent previously attended locations is called

A)attentional fatigue.
B)exogenous cuing.
C)inhibition of return.
D)pop-out search.

Question 38

Alexandra believes that the effects of attention on perception occur very quickly on a fine temporal scale.Which of the following techniques should she use to investigate the changes in perceptual processing that may accompany focused attention?

A)CT (computed tomography)
B)PET (positron emission tomography)
C)MEG (magnetoencephalography)
D)MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

Question 39

According to research by Wolfe and colleagues (2000),visual search is most rapid when

A)the focus of attention is driven by voluntary,controlled search.
B)the focus of attention is driven by the sensory information.
C)the number of distracters in the display is large.
D)the number of features in the display is large.

Question 40

Directing attention to a visual stimulus produces a positive ERP waveform called the P1 waveform if participants are

A)overtly,rather than covertly,directing attention.
B)selectively attending to the stimulus based on its location rather than its color.
C)exogenously (externally)cued rather than endogenously (internally)cued to the stimulus.
D)shown a different stimulus in each eye.

Question 41

Limiting the amount of conscious awareness that we have for our own information processing may have the advantage of all of the following EXCEPT

A)this allows us to filter out sensory information before it has received much processing by the brain.
B)this reduces the number of extra cognitive operations that accompany conscious processing.
C)this minimizes the amount of time for information processing to be completed.
D)this reduces the amount of metabolic resources that are used for information processing.

Question 42

With regard to the three-stage model of attention of Posner and his colleagues (1984),which component of attention is associated with the pulvinar?

A)The ability to engage visual attention at a particular location in the visual field
B)The capacity to move the focus of visual attention from one location to another
C)The ability to disengage attention from a particular location in the visual field
D)The ability to locate a conjunction target that is embedded in a field of distracters

Question 43

ERP studies of visual and auditory attention suggest that early ERP components like the P1 and N1 are not modulated by the participant's attentional state.

Question 44

The primary functional problem that results from posterior parietal injury and that produces the neglect syndrome is that patients

A)fail to process sensory information from the ipsilesional side of space.
B)fail to process sensory information from the contralesional side of space.
C)cannot disengage attention from information in the ipsilesional side of space.
D)cannot disengage attention from information in the contralesional side of space.

Question 45

Spatial attention to one hemifield leads to increased neural activity in the fusiform gyrus in the ipsilateral hemisphere.

Question 46

Extrastriate cortical regions specialized for the processing of color,form,and motion are modulated by visual attention to these stimulus features.

Question 47

Attention can be directed to both spatial and nonspatial features of target visual stimuli.

Question 48

Unilateral spatial neglect typically results from damage to the left temporal lobe.

Question 49

According to the three-stage model of attention of Posner and colleagues (1984),injury to this brain structure results in a deficit in moving focused attention from a particular location in the visual field to another.

A)The posterior parietal lobe
B)The pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus
C)The superior colliculus
D)The lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus

Question 50

The observation that extinction is worse when identical,rather than different,stimuli are simultaneously presented to the ipsilesional and contralesional sides of the visual field indicates that

A)neglected stimuli do not undergo perceptual processing in the absence of focused attention.
B)neglected stimuli undergo perceptual processing in the absence of focused attention.
C)neglected stimuli can capture attention involuntarily.
D)neglected stimuli are often confused with stimuli that are successfully attended.

Question 51

The N400 ERP component is most associated with covert focusing of visual attention.

Question 52

The main deficit in Balint's syndrome is that patients can focus attention on only

A)contralesional objects.
B)ipsilesional objects.
C)one object at a time.
D)the foveal part of the visual field.

Question 53

The symptoms of patients with neglect and Balint's syndrome reflect disruption of the ________ pathway.

A)"what"
B)"where"
C)geniculostriate
D)tectopulvinar

Question 54

When spatial attention is introduced to one stimulus in a spatial array,simultaneous presentation of competing stimuli interferes less compared to the absence of spatial attention.

Question 55

Models of late selection hypothesize that attended and ignored inputs are processed equivalently by the perceptual system,reaching a stage of semantic analysis.

Question 56

In visual search tasks,the amount of time it takes to find a target among distracters is independent of the number of distracters if the target can be identified by a single feature.

Question 57

When Bisiach and Luzzatti (1978)asked patients with the neglect syndrome to describe their own mental images of the Italian city in which they lived,the researchers found that

A)these patients demonstrated a deficit in moving attention from one location in their mental images to another.
B)patients had great difficulty in generating mental images in general.
C)there was no evidence of neglect for internally generated mental images.
D)the patients also neglected the contralesional side of their own mental images.

Question 58

In exogenous cuing,the orienting of attention to the cue is driven primarily by the participant's goals.

Question 59

What is the difference between voluntary attention and reflexive attention? Between overt and covert attention? Are the distinctions the same? If not,how do they differ?

Question 60

The idea that we successfully perform many tasks even though we have little conscious awareness of the information processing operations that are involved in completing these tasks is best supported by

A)the Stroop effect.
B)experiments with the visual search task.
C)studies of subliminal perception.
D)investigations of explicit long-term memory.

Question 61

How do early- and late-selection models of attention differ? Propose a dichotic listening experiment that would provide evidence to distinguish between these two models.

Question 62

Describe the experimental design of a Posner cuing experiment.In your answer,provide definitions for the terms: exogenous cuing,endogenous cuing,valid trial,invalid trial,and inhibition of return.

Question 63

What is the neurological syndrome known as neglect? Describe the typical symptoms and associated brain regions.How does complete neglect differ from extinction?

Question 64

Describe the basic findings of the visual search research conducted by Treisman and colleagues.In particular,describe the difference between a feature search and a conjunction search.Draw a figure illustrating a typical response time pattern for the two search types.