Question 1

How does binocular rivalry demonstrate the top-down processing of perception?

Accepted Answer

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Question 2

Hemifield neglect or unilateral visual neglect is a condition in which a person fails to attend to stimuli on one side of the visual world (usually the left) as a consequence of neurological damage to the posterior parietal lobe.

Accepted Answer

Hemifield neglect or unilateral visual neglect is indeed a condition in which a person fails to attend to stimuli on one side of the visual world (usually the left) due to neurological damage to the posterior parietal lobe.

Question 3

Change blindness is the difficulty we experience in detecting differences between two visual stimuli that are identical except for one or more changes to the image.

Accepted Answer

Change blindness is a real phenomenon in which people struggle to detect differences between two similar visual stimuli, even if the differences are significant.

Question 4

In the oddball procedure, an infant is shown a series of pictures of related objects, such as different kinds of balls.Then the infant is presented with an object from a different category, such as a toy animal.Research finds that ______.
A)infants as young as four months orient toward a novel object
B)infants remember objects from the familiar category better than the novel items
C)attention is focused on the familiar items
D)it is not until a child is approximately 1 year old that one sees a familiarity preference

Accepted Answer

Research has found that infants as young as four months show a preference for the novel object presented in oddball procedure, indicating their ability to detect differences between familiar and novel stimuli. Option B is incorrect because infants remember the novel object better than the familiar ones. Option C is also incorrect because attention is focused on the novel object. Option D is incorrect because familiarity preference can be seen in infants as young as four months old.

Question 5

Divided attention is the process of attention that allows us to focus on one source when many are present.

Accepted Answer

Divided attention refers to the ability to process different information sources or perform more than one task simultaneously, not focusing on a single source.

Question 6

Mack and Rock (1998) asked participants to maintain fixation on a central point.They then saw a large cross somewhere in the parafoveal region.The participants' task was to determine if the horizontal or vertical lines of the cross were larger.The researchers found that ______.
A)reaction time in the task slowed when the horizontal lines and vertical lines were not perpendicular to each other
B)reaction time was faster when the stimuli were presented more dimly than when the stimuli were presented more brightly
C)attention to the horizontal lines inhibited perception of the vertical lines
D)a majority of the participants did not report seeing an introduced diamond, even though it was presented in the fovea

Accepted Answer

Mack and Rock (1998) conducted experiments on inattentional blindness, where they found that participants often did not notice a visual stimulus (in this case, a diamond) that was in clear view because their attention was focused on another task (determining the length of lines on a cross). This demonstrates how focused attention can lead to a failure to perceive other stimuli, even those directly in the center of the visual field.

Question 7

Give an example of covert attention and an example of overt attention.

Accepted Answer

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Question 8

Conjunction search is the search for a target in which the target is specified by a combination of features.

Accepted Answer

Conjunction search requires the identification of a target based on a combination of features, such as its color and shape. This makes conjunction search more difficult and time-consuming than a simple feature search, where the target is distinguished by a single feature such as its color or orientation.

Question 9

Compare and contrast selective attention and undivided attention.Give an example for each.

Accepted Answer

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Question 10

Attentional blink is the tendency to respond faster to the second appearance of a target in an RSVP task when the second stimulus occurs after 1 second.

Accepted Answer

Attentional blink refers to the phenomenon where the second of two targets cannot be detected or identified when it appears within 200-500 milliseconds of the first target in a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) task, not after 1 second.

Question 11

Orienting attention network is a neural system, located primarily in the temporal lobe, that allows us to engage in sustained attention or alertness.

Accepted Answer

The orienting attention network is actually located primarily in the parietal lobe and involves the ability to shift attention to a specific location or target. The system involved in sustained attention or alertness is the alerting attention network, located primarily in the frontal lobe.

Question 12

Peter is shown a photograph of a man standing in a garden holding an orange.He is then shown an identical photograph, except that the man is holding an apple, not an orange.Peter does not detect a difference.This type of experiment demonstrates which phenomenon?
A)blindsight
B)the attentional spotlight
C)feature integration
D)change blindness

Accepted Answer

This type of experiment demonstrates change blindness, which is the phenomenon where individuals fail to detect changes in a visual scene when they occur gradually or during a disruption such as a brief interruption in visual input. In this case, the change from holding an orange to holding an apple was not noticed by Peter.

Question 13

In their experiment, Simons and Chabris (1999) asked participants to watch a video that shows three young college-age adults wearing white T-shirts, passing a basketball, and three young college-age adults wearing black T-shirts, passing another basketball.They found that participants could not accurately track the passes when a person in a gorilla suit interrupted the game.

Accepted Answer

In the experiment by Simons and Chabris (1999), participants were asked to count the passes among players wearing the same color shirts, and many failed to notice a person in a gorilla suit walking through the scene, not because they couldn't track the passes, but because their attention was so focused on counting the passes that they missed the unexpected event.

Question 14

Visual attention cannot be covert--attention is synonymous with the direction of gaze.

Accepted Answer

Visual attention can be covert, meaning that a person can attend to a stimulus without looking directly at it. This can occur through peripheral vision or mental imagery. Therefore, attention is not always synonymous with the direction of gaze.

Question 15

There is evidence to suggest that video game players ______.
A)show reduced attentional blink
B)will eventually develop blindsight
C)show higher reaction times than normal in RSVP studies
D)develop increased change blindness

Accepted Answer

Research has found that video game players show reduced attentional blink, meaning they are better able to process and respond to multiple stimuli quickly.

Question 16

A basketball player has dribbled the ball so often that she doesn't have to think about it and instead can focus on where to pass the ball.The player dribbling the ball is an example of automaticity.

Accepted Answer

Automaticity refers to the ability to perform tasks without conscious attention or effort, and the example given of a basketball player who can dribble the ball without thinking is consistent with this concept.

Question 17

Give an example from your everyday life of change blindness.

Accepted Answer

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Question 18

Select all that apply.A patient with hemifield neglect was studied by Bisiach and Luzzatti (1978).They tested him on both perception and imagery tasks.They found that ______.
A)when asked to imagine himself walking from north to south in his native city, the patient described the sites only on the west side (his right)
B)when asked to imagine himself walking from south to north, the patient described the sites only on the east side (now on his right)
C)the patient showed neglect for the left side of his visual images
D)the patient showed neglect for the right side of his visual images

Accepted Answer

Bisiach and Luzzatti's study found that the patient with hemifield neglect showed neglect for the left side of his visual images, regardless of the direction he imagined himself walking. This means he described sites on his right side, which were on the west when imagining walking north to south and on the east when imagining walking south to north.

Question 19

How does stimulus salience relate to attentional capture?

Accepted Answer

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Question 20

Attentional capture is the process whereby a salient stimulus causes us to shift attention to that stimulus.

Accepted Answer

Attentional capture occurs when a stimulus stands out from its surroundings, and automatically draws our attention towards it. This can be due to factors such as color, motion, or abrupt changes in the environment.

Quiz 9: Visual Attention