Deck 3: Attention

Question 1

Which of the following theories always predicts that memory for unattended information should be nonexistent?

A)attenuation theory
B)early selection filter
C)late selection filter
D)decay

Answer 1

early selection filter

Question 2

At times, highly pertinent messages, such as one's name, can be heard on the unattended channel in a shadowing task.This supports

A)feature integration theory
B)attenuation theory
C)early selection theory
D)prototype theory

Answer 2

attenuation theory

Question 3

When two tasks both require a speeded response to two separate stimuli, the second response is slowed as the second stimulus is presented closer in time to the first stimulus.This phenomenon is related to

A)the orienting network
B)the central bottleneck
C)the blind spot
D)subliminal perception

Answer 3

the central bottleneck

Question 4

A breakdown in the system of engaging, moving, and reading out the current focus of attention can cause a disorder called:

A)blindsight
B)aphasia
C)apraxia
D)spatial neglect

Question 5

Schneider and Shiffrin asked people to look for letters or numbers in their study of automatic processing.The study demonstrated that

A)the amount of time that the stimuli were exposed did not influence
B)in the consistent mapping tasks, people were just as fast in searching for four items as one
C)on controlled processing tasks, people looked for all four targets simultaneously
D)none of the above

Question 6

One study of subliminal perception presented statements from one of five categories on an auditory tape that was played backwards.Listeners tried to identify which of the five categories applied to each statement.Results showed they were correct approximately ___ percent of the time.

A)0
B)20
C)50
D)80

Question 7

The difficulty you experience in recalling words presented while simultaneously calculating mental multiplication problems illustrates:

A)the limited capacity of short-term memory
B)the limited capacity of attention
C)the awareness gradient of attention
D)automaticity of attention

Question 8

The automatic, unconscious processing of information that has some impact on subsequent behavior is called

A)controlled perception
B)pattern recognition
C)supraliminal perception
D)subliminal perception

Question 9

The early selection model of attention assumes that a filter operated on

A)sensory and semantic features
B)sensory features
C)semantic features
D)iconic features

Question 10

Which of the following is a way for a process to become automatic?

A)storage in short-term memory
B)extensive practice
C)instruction by lectures and demonstrations
D)instruction given under hypnosis

Question 11

Marcel's experiments using tachistoscopic projection methods demonstrated that even under subliminal conditions,

A)word perception occurs at a high level of semantic analysis
B)discourse comprehension proceeds smoothly
C)picture recognition results in outstanding long-term retention
D)backward masking fails to distort recognition

Question 12

In Shiffrin and Schneider's visual search experiments, which of the following allowed for automatic processing?

A)varied mapping
B)consistent mapping
C)partial report
D)whole report

Question 13

Processing the frequency of occurrence of stimuli is probably best viewed as a(n)

A)priming process
B)controlled process
C)automatic process
D)none of the above

Question 14

Which of the following is most likely to be an automatic process?

A)pattern recognition of familiar stimuli
B)problem solving with everyday problems
C)pattern recognition of novel stimuli
D)problem solving with ill-defined problems

Question 15

Which theory of attention distinguishes between verbal and spatial tasks?

A)early-selection theory
B)multiple resource theory
C)attenuation theory
D)capacity theory

Question 16

Because subliminal, unattended information avoids conscious defense mechanisms, it is stored well in long-term memory.

A)this is false
B)this is true only for highly emotional material
C)this is true only for people who easily repress information
D)this is true only for highly hypnotizable people

Question 17

When a message that is being shadowed shifts from the attended ear to the unattended ear, listeners

A)stopped shadowing
B)continued shadowing the message
C)switched to a new message
D)imagined hearing their names

Question 18

Which of the following is not true of automatic processes?

A)they are unavailable to introspection
B)they are unintentional
C)they involve motor processes, but not perceptual processes
D)they interfere little with attention demanding processes

Question 19

Suppose you hear a message that seems to come from either the left or right ear.This procedure can be used to study

A)iconic memory
B)selective attention
C)subliminal perception
D)partial report

Question 20

According to Moray's (1959)work on dichotic listening, one generally must attend to material in order for it to be stored in long-term memory, unless the material is

A)visual
B)abstract
C)pertinent
D)novel

Question 21

The Stroop effect illustrates

A)divided attention
B)feature integration
C)automatic processes
D)selective attention

Question 22

The ____________________network aligns attention with a signal in the visual field, either overtly through eye movements or covertly without any eye movement.

A)alerting
B)orienting
C)executive attention
D)default

Question 23

Feature integration predicts that

A)finding a red X in a display that includes fifty red Os and fifty blue Xs would demand focused attention.
B)a person would first recognize a large brown object then recognize it is a bear
C)finding a red X in a display of fifty red Os and red Xs would not demand focused attention.
D)all of the above

Question 24

Which theory of attention draws a distinction between auditory and visual tasks?

A)early selection
B)late selection
C)attenuation
D)multiple capacity

Question 25

Filter theories of attention are not able to capture the full complexity of human
attention.

Question 26

A breakdown in the orienting network of attention is the likely cause of a disorder called

A)inattentional blindness
B)change blindness
C)spatial neglect
D)associative agnosia

Question 27

The __________________network monitors for conflicts among thoughts, feelings, and responses and resolves such conflicts by inhibiting inappropriate mental representations and activating appropriate ones.

A)alerting
B)orienting
C)executive attention
D)default

Question 28

The __________________network increases sensitivity to incoming stimuli and maintains this state of readiness.

A)alerting
B)orienting
C)executive attention
D)default

Question 29

Some behavioral symptoms of __________ include impulsive behavior, making careless mistakes, and failing to complete tasks.

A)selective attention
B)attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
C)agnosia
D)migraine headaches

Question 30

Conjunction search is more difficult than pop-out search.This finding supports the theory called

A)late selection
B)multiple capacity
C)feature integration
D)central bottleneck

Question 31

Capacity theories attempt to explain all of the following except:

A)the distinction between verbal versus spatial information processing
A
B)the mental effort aspect of attention
C)how attention acts to select or block out the processing of some stimuli and allows the processing of others and at what point this occurs
D)the degree of attentional resources demanded by a task

Question 32

Why is talking with someone on a cell phone while driving more hazardous than carrying on a conversation with a person in the car in the seat next to the driver?

A)the cell phone conversation is harder to hear
B)the cell phone conversation is more emotionally demanding
C)the person in the car provides a second set of eyes on the road
D)the person in the car takes the wheel and hits the brakes when needed

Question 33

In Shiffrin and Schneider's visual search experiments, which of the following required consciously controlled processing?

A)varied mapping
B)consistent mapping
C)partial report
D)whole report

Question 34

The above analysis would support which theory of attention?

A)single capacity
B)attenuation
C)late selection
D)early selection

Question 35

Subliminal perception seems to work by influencing

A)top down processing
B)emotions
C)explicit memory
D)semantic comprehension

Question 36

Research with driving simulators has found that multitasking by driving while using cell phone

A)is only hazardous with text messaging but not in talking on a cell phone
B)is hazardous with a hands-on cell phone but not with a hands-free cell phone
C)is as hazardous as being intoxicated as at a blood alcohol level of .08
D)is as hazardous as listening to a radio or a CD player

Question 37

Spatial neglect refers to the failure to attend to all areas of the visual field.

Question 38

Which of the following describes the Stroop effect?

A)the color of ink of the word three would be read aloud effortlessly
B)the meaning of the word blue in red ink would be read aloud effortlessly
C)the green color of ink of the word red would be read aloud effortlessly
D)the word two would be read aloud effortlessly when printed in black ink

Question 39

Which of the following shape the allocation of attention on capacity?

A)momentary intentions
B)evaluations of current demands
C)enduring dispositions
D)all of the above

Question 40

In Cherry's shadowing experiments, subjects noticed changes in physical or sensory features rather than semantic features in the unattended ear.

Question 41

The pulvinar thalamic nucleus is not the only control mechanism for attention in the human brain.

Question 42

According to Kinchla's research, attention switches from one area to another in an all-or-nothing fashion.

Question 43

Explain why talking on a cell phone while driving in heavy traffic is dangerous based on findings from the research on human attention.Is listening to the radio more or less distracting than carrying on a conversation? Why?

Question 44

Suppose, during a dichotic listening task, you were attending to the sentence, "I saw the fork," while in the unattended ear you heard a list of food names (e.g., salad, steak, baked potato).How would you interpret the word fork? Would your interpretation differ if instead of food names you heard in the unattended ear "and I chose the path less traveled..." (a line from a poem by Robert Frost).Explain your answer in terms of theories of attention.

Question 45

The attentuation theory can explain why you notice your name but not other words in an unattended channel.

Question 46

Because subliminal, unattended information avoid conscious defense mechanisms, it is stored well in long-term memory.