Deck 5: Attention and Performance

Question 1

The study by Spelke et al. (1976) investigated the effect of what on dual-task performance?

A) Task difficulty
B) Task similarity
C) Response similarity
D) Practice
E) Reward

Answer 1

Practice

Question 2

The cognitive neuroscience approach was used to test:

A) Processes underlying parallel performance
B) Theoretical models alone
C) Theoretical models and to enhance our understanding of processes underlying dual-task performance
D) Theoretical models and to enhance our understanding of processing underlying single-task performance
E) To enhance our understanding of processes underlying covert performance

Answer 2

Theoretical models and to enhance our understanding of processes underlying dual-task performance

Question 3

According to Lavie , if all other factors held constant, susceptibility to distraction is greater when the task involves what?

A) More items in the visual field
B) Low perceptual load
C) Low demand on executive control functions
D) Pop-outs
E) Only auditory stimuli

Answer 3

Low perceptual load

Question 4

According to Corbetta and Shulman (2002), the goal-directed system of visual attention consists of a:

A) Right-hemisphere ventral fronto-parietal network
B) Left-hemisphere ventral fronto-parietal network
C) Ventral attention network
D) Dorsal attention network
E) Left-hemisphere ventral occipital network

Question 5

The study by Treisman and Davies (1973) found that interference in a divided-attention task was greatest when:

A) The tasks used the same modality
B) Required responses were similar
C) Participants were practised at the task
D) Both tasks were difficult
E) None of these

Question 6

Feature integration theory predicts that, in the absence of focused attention, features from different objects will be randomly combined to produce:

A) Conjunctive features
B) Illusory conjunctions
C) Non-targets
D) Visual illusions
E) Feature displays

Question 7

Dual-task performance is often associated with (Schweizer et al., 2013):

A) Underadditivity
B) Overadditivity
C) Enhanced cognitive control
D) Reduced spatial and visual processing
E) Increased attentional processing

Question 8

According to Shiffrin and Schneider's (1977) theory, which of the following statements applies to controlled processes?

A) They can be used flexibly in changing circumstances
B) They have no capacity limitations
C) They are hard to modify once learned
D) They do not require attention
E) None of these

Question 9

Posner (1980) suggested that the attentional spotlight can shift to a different visual location in the absence of eye movements. This is termed:

A) Divided attention
B) Split attention
C) Overt attention
D) Covert attention
E) Attentional bias

Question 10

The method whereby participants have to repeat an auditory message back out loud while a second auditory message is played to the other ear is called:

A) Monitoring
B) Shadowing
C) Tagging
D) Breakthrough
E) Following

Question 11

Which theory of attention was developed by Treisman and Gelade (1980)?

A) Filter theory
B) Perceptual load theory
C) Bottleneck theory
D) Decision integration theory
E) Feature integration theory

Question 12

Evidence from many studies of the psychological refractory period has offered support for the predictions of:

A) Capacity theory
B) Instance theory
C) Feature integration theory
D) Cognitive bottleneck theory
E) Visual search theory

Question 13

In which of the following attention theories does the processing "bottleneck" occur much later in the processing system?

A) Deutsch and Deutsch theory
B) Filter theory
C) Attenuation theory
D) Perceptual load theory
E) Feature integration theory

Question 14

Which brain areas did Corbetta and Shulman (2002) find to be involved in the stimulus-driven system of visual attention?

A) Inferior frontal junction
B) Inferior frontal gyrus
C) Supramarginal gyrus
D) Superior temporal gyrus and insula
E) All of the above

Question 15

The model of visual attention proposed by Eriksen and St James (1986) is the:

A) Object-based theory
B) Filter theory
C) Colour wheel theory
D) Autofocus theory
E) Zoom lens model

Question 16

The condition in which there is a lack of awareness for stimuli presented to the contralesional side of space is called:

A) Neglect
B) Balint's syndrome
C) Visual agnosia
D) Optic ataxia
E) Anosognosia

Question 17

According to James (1890), passive attentional processes are controlled by:

A) An individual's goals
B) An individual's expectations
C) Bottom-up processes
D) Top-down processes
E) All of the above

Question 18

Cherry's research on the "cocktail party" problem suggests that we use which type of information to enable us to follow just one conversation, when several people are talking at once?

A) Message characteristics
B) Language
C) Syntactical information
D) Physical characteristics
E) None of these

Question 19

Cherry's research on the "cocktail party" problem involves the study of:

A) Focused auditory attention
B) Focused visual attention
C) Divided auditory attention
D) Divided visual attention
E) Change blindness

Question 20

Inhibition of perceptual/attentional processes and inhibition of motor processes have both been proposed as possible mechanisms for which phenomenon?

A) Mnemonic inhibition
B) Inhibitory paralysis
C) Apraxia
D) Inhibition of return
E) All of the above

Question 21

What does the term "bottleneck" mean?

A) Filter
B) Processor
C) Buffer
D) Output
E) Input

Question 22

What component of working memory is involved in attentional control?

A) Visuospatial sketchpad
B) Episodic buffer
C) Phonological loop
D) Central executive
E) Long-term memory

Question 23

What did Chica et al. (2011) find when applying TMS to the right intraparietal sulcus?

A) Impaired functioning of both attention systems
B) Impaired functioning of the goal-directed system
C) Hightened functioning of both attention systems
D) Heightened function of the stimulus-driven attentional system
E) Equal functioning of both systems