Question 1

__________ presentation refers to the simultaneous presentation of differing audible stimuli (such as verbal messages)to each ear.

Accepted Answer

Dichotic presentation refers to the presentation of different sounds to each ear simultaneously. This type of presentation is often used in research to study selective attention and can be done using headphones or speakers positioned on opposite sides of the listener.

Question 2

__________ refers to an experimental task in which you listen to two different messages and then are required to repeat back only one of the messages as soon as possible after you hear it,ignoring the other.

Accepted Answer

Shadowing is a task where participants are asked to immediately repeat (or "shadow") a message they hear, focusing on one message while ignoring others. This technique is used in cognitive psychology to study selective attention and language processing.

Question 3

This model of selective attention suggests that the filter for blocking signals occurs later than sensory processing and allows for both perceptual and conceptual analysis of information to take place.

Accepted Answer

Deutsch and Deutsch's Late Filter Model suggests that the filtering of information occurs after sensory processing and allows for both perceptual and conceptual analysis, meaning that all stimuli are processed to the level of meaning before the filter decides which information reaches consciousness.

Question 4

This model of selective attention suggests that while there are multiple channels for sensory input,only one channel is processed while the other channels of information are blocked (filtered).Information from only one channel makes it through the attentional filter.

Accepted Answer

Broadbent's Model proposes that sensory information enters a sensory buffer and undergoes a selective filter process based on physical characteristics, such as pitch or location. Only the information from the attended channel is passed through to higher-level processing, while the information from the unattended channel is 'blocked' or lost.

Question 5

This model of selective attention proposes that there are three stages of processing,and that selection of one incoming message over another can take place during any of the three stages.

Accepted Answer

The multimode theory of attention, proposed by Donald Broadbent, suggests that the point of selection where we choose to focus our attention can occur at different stages of the information processing sequence, depending on the task or situation. This theory posits that selection can happen early, mid, or late in the processing stages, making it a flexible model compared to earlier, more rigid theories.

Question 6

According to the __________ theory,the key factor affecting the relative ease or difficulty of visual searches is whether or not discrete features must be integrated.

Accepted Answer

The feature-integration theory, proposed by Treisman and Gelade, states that visual searches are easier or harder depending on whether the features that are being searched for can be processed separately or need to be integrated. The theory emphasizes that the binding of multiple features into a single object can be a challenge for the visual system, and the difficulty increases with the number of features that need to be integrated.

Question 7

Your child attends a school that requires use of 1 of 4 different uniforms.You lament that it is often difficult to spot your child in the crowd of children.On that day it is raining,it is easy to spot the red umbrella that your child uses in the sea of black umbrellas.The search has changed from a _____ to a _____.

Accepted Answer

Initially, finding your child among many wearing different uniforms is a conjunction search because it requires distinguishing based on multiple features (type of uniform, child's appearance, etc.). When it's raining, and your child is the only one with a red umbrella among black ones, it becomes a feature search, which is simpler because it's based on a single, distinct feature (the color of the umbrella).

Question 8

__________ refers to a means of pursuing a quest for a target stimulus by seeking the joint appearance of multiple features that distinguish the target stimulus from distracters.

Accepted Answer

Conjunction search involves focusing on multiple features that are unique to the target stimulus in order to distinguish it from other distractor stimuli. Feature search, on the other hand, involves focusing on a singular feature that distinguishes the target from distractors. Characteristic selectivity and visual selective attention are related concepts, but do not directly refer to the pursuit of a target stimulus through multiple distinguishing features.

Question 9

__________ refer to features,characteristics,objects,or other stimuli that cause a person difficulty in selectively attending to the desired stimuli.

Accepted Answer

Distracters are stimuli that draw attention away from the desired stimuli, making it difficult for a person to selectively attend to the intended information. Signals refer to any stimuli that provide information, while secondary stimuli and signals refer to additional sources of information that may or may not be relevant to the task at hand.

Question 10

Your child attends a school that requires use of 1 of 4 different uniforms.You lament that it is often difficult to spot your child in the crowd of children.The difficulty is due to a search involving

Accepted Answer

Conjunction search is the process of searching for a target that shares multiple features with distractors. In this case, the target is the child wearing the specific uniform, which is a combination of different features. This type of search takes longer and is more difficult than feature search, where the target has a unique feature, or vigilance, where the target is rare and easily detected, or divided attention, where multiple targets are presented simultaneously.

Question 11

__________ refers to the visual pursuit of a particular characteristic by means of scanning the environment for the characteristic.

Accepted Answer

Feature search is the process of scanning the environment for a specific feature or characteristic. This involves the selective attention of the visual system on certain aspects of a stimulus, such as color or orientation. The other answer choices do not accurately describe this process.

Question 12

According to the __________ theories of attention,information is selectively blocked out or attenuated as it passes from one level of processing to the next.

Accepted Answer

The description of information being selectively blocked out or attenuated as it passes through different processing levels is a characteristic of filter and bottleneck theories of attention. Attentional-resource theories focus more on the limited amount of cognitive resources available for attentional tasks, neurological theories focus on the brain mechanisms involved in attention, and signal-detection theories focus on detecting signals in a noisy environment.

Question 13

According to the __________ theory,the key factor affecting the relative ease or difficulty of visual searches is the degree to which the features of targets and distracters are alike.

Accepted Answer

The similarity theory suggests that visual search difficulty is influenced by how similar the features of the target are to the distractors.

Question 14

Fred needs to find a particular furniture store in a busy shopping area.Yet,this particular shop has no unique features to help him recognize it,other than the store's name.Thus,Fred must read each store's name and compare it to the target shop's name.This illustrates

Accepted Answer

Feature search is the process of searching for a target object based on a specific feature, such as color, shape, or size. In this case, Fred is searching for a store based on its name, which is a specific feature.

Question 15

This model of selective attention suggests that most information is blocked out at the sensory level,but that highly salient messages are able to break through the attentional filter.

Accepted Answer

Moray's Selective Filter Model posits that information is filtered at the sensory level, allowing only the most pertinent or salient messages to pass through to conscious awareness, aligning with the description provided.

Question 16

This model,_____,suggests that all searches,whether conjunctive or feature,involve two stages.The first stage,operating in parallel,identifies information for further processing that occurs in the second stage,which occurs serially.

Accepted Answer

The given description is consistent with the guided search theory, which posits that attention is initially distributed across all items in parallel during the first stage, with guidance from specific features or cues that help prioritize certain items for further processing in the second stage.

Question 17

This model of selective attention suggests that 1)some higher level processing of the information occurs prior to informational filter,and 2)the strength of the unattended stimuli is weaker than that for the attended stimuli.

Accepted Answer

This description closely matches Treisman's attenuation model, which proposes that some level of processing occurs for all sensory information, but unattended stimuli are weakened rather than completely blocked.

Question 18

Madden's (2007)research examining the impact of aging on visual search ability has found that:

Accepted Answer

Madden's research indicates that younger participants tend to be both more accurate and faster in visual search tasks compared to older participants, highlighting age-related declines in visual search ability.

Question 19

As a child,every time you went to a place with large crowds,your mother had you wear a bright colored shirt.She knew that it would be easier to spot you in the crowd by the color of your shirt.She was making use of

Accepted Answer

The mother is making use of feature search by using a specific feature, the bright color of the shirt, to locate the child in the crowd easily. Feature search involves finding a target among distractors based on a single distinguishing feature, which in this case is the color of the shirt.

Question 20

The __________ phenomenon refers to the process of tracking one conversation in the face of the distraction of other conversations.

Accepted Answer

The cocktail party phenomenon refers to the ability to focus on a conversation with one person while ignoring other conversations going on around you in a noisy environment, much like being at a cocktail party. It is a form of selective attention. Dichotic listening refers to the process of presenting different sounds to each ear simultaneously. Bidirectional attention and subliminal perception are not relevant to this phenomenon.

Quiz 4: Attention and Consciousness

__________ presentation refers to the simultaneous presentation of differing audible stimuli (such as verbal messages) to each ear.