Question 1

Which of the following is an example of zero stimulus onset asynchrony?
A)The cue occurs before the target.
B)The cue occurs after the target.
C)The cue occurs, but the target never occurs.
D)The cue occurs at the same time as the target.

Accepted Answer

Zero stimulus onset asynchrony refers to when the cue and the target occur at the same time, which is the case in option D. Option A refers to a positive stimulus onset asynchrony, option B refers to a negative stimulus onset asynchrony, and option C does not fit into any of these categories as there is no target to create a stimulus onset asynchrony with the cue.

Question 2

Beck, Muggleton, Walsh, and Lavie (2006) used transcranial magnetic stimulation to examine change blindness.They tried various combinations of inhibiting the parietal lobes of participants while those participants were doing a change-blindness task.They found that ______.
A)interrupting the function of the left parietal lobe increased change blindness
B)activation of both the right and left parietal lobe decreased change blindness
C)activation of both the right and left parietal lobe increased change blindness
D)interrupting the function of the right parietal lobe increased change blindness

Accepted Answer

Beck, Muggleton, Walsh, and Lavie (2006) found that interrupting the function of the right parietal lobe increased change blindness. Therefore, the best choice is D.

Question 3

As Jules stares at the group of baseball players, his attention is drawn toward the one player not wearing a uniform.This is an example of ______.
A)covert attention
B)attentional capture
C)attentional salience
D)overt attention

Accepted Answer

Attentional capture occurs when a stimulus automatically draws attention due to its distinctiveness, such as a player not wearing a uniform among those who are.

Question 4

The process of attending to multiple sources of information is known as ______.
A)divided attention
B)selective attention
C)elective attention
D)source monitoring

Accepted Answer

Divided attention refers to the ability to process multiple sources of information or tasks simultaneously. Selective attention refers to the process of focusing on one particular source of information while ignoring others, and elective attention is not a commonly used term in discussing attention processes. Source monitoring refers to the process of keeping track of the origin of information or memories.

Question 5

Simons and Levin (1997) conducted an experiment in which participants were asked directions by an experimenter.When the participant started giving directions, two other experimenters, posing as construction workers, passed by carrying a detached door.The construction workers passed between the experimenter who had asked for directions and the participant.What happened next?
A)The first experimenter hid behind the door and exited the scene, while a second experimenter, the same gender and age as the first experimenter, replaced the first.
B)The participant was asked if he attended to the message written on the detached door.
C)The door remained between the experimenter and participant, causing the latter to choose between talking through the door or moving around the door to talk.
D)The experimenter went with the construction workers, leaving the participant with no one to talk to.

Accepted Answer

This experiment by Simons and Levin (1997) is a classic example of change blindness, where the person asking for directions was switched with another person behind the door, and many participants did not notice the change.

Question 6

Simons and Levin (1997) conducted a field experiment in which participants were chosen at random.In the experiment, an experimenter posing as a tourist asked a person on campus for directions.When the experimenter asking the question was changed, the researchers found that ______.
A)nearly 50% of the participants failed to notice the change from one person to another
B)nearly 100% of the participants noticed the change from one person to another
C)nearly 100% of the participants failed to notice the change from one person to another
D)the participants were surprised when the experimenter was suddenly someone of a different gender

Accepted Answer

This experiment is a classic example of change blindness, where individuals fail to notice a change in a visual stimulus (in this case, the person asking for directions) because their attention is directed elsewhere. Nearly 50% of participants did not notice the switch, illustrating how people can overlook significant changes in their environment when they are not specifically attending to them.

Question 7

When a particularly odd image or striking sound captures our attention, that image or sound is said to have ______.
A)stimulus salience
B)covert attentional appeal
C)change blindness resistance
D)attention shift capacity

Accepted Answer

Stimulus salience refers to the ability of a stimulus to stand out and capture our attention due to its unique and conspicuous features. It can be visual, such as a bright color in a sea of neutral colors, or auditory, such as a sudden loud noise in a quiet environment.

Question 8

In Posner (1980), valid cues were found to result in ______ reaction times than neutral cues, but neutral cues were found to result in ______ times than invalid cues.
A)faster; slower
B)slower; faster
C)faster; faster
D)slower; slower

Accepted Answer

Valid cues lead to faster reaction times compared to neutral cues, and neutral cues lead to faster reaction times compared to invalid cues.

Question 9

Rensink, O'Regan, and Clark (1997) showed photographs of a variety of scenes, one image at a time.After a set period of looking at each photograph, it would disappear and be replaced by a nearly identical image.They found that ______.
A)change blindness varied as a function of the brightness of the photographs
B)change blindness varied as a function of the participants' alertness level
C)some participants never found the change between one image and the other
D)most participants quickly found the change between one image and the other

Accepted Answer

Rensink, O'Regan, and Clark's (1997) study found that some participants never noticed the change between one image and the other, indicating a phenomenon known as change blindness.

Question 10

At a library circulation desk, Daniela checks out materials while answering the telephone.This example shows ______.
A)divided attention
B)selective attention
C)elective attention
D)source monitoring

Accepted Answer

Daniela is performing two tasks simultaneously (checking out materials and answering the phone), which requires her to divide her attention between the two. Therefore, the example shows divided attention. Selective attention refers to the ability to focus on specific information while ignoring others, elective attention is not a recognized term, and source monitoring refers to the ability to identify the source of information.

Question 11

In the Posner cueing paradigm, the participant maintains fixation at the central point.Cues indicate whether the target will appear on the left or the right.In most trials, the cue is valid; that is, the target appears on the indicated side.But in some trials, the cue is invalid; that is, the target appears on the opposite side of the cue.The experimenters measure the reaction time to indicate that the target is present.The results show that ______.
A)maintaining fixation reduces reaction time significantly
B)participants are relatively faster when the cue is invalid
C)reaction time increases for valid trials
D)participants are relatively faster when the cue is valid

Accepted Answer

The results show that participants are relatively faster when the cue is valid. This is because when the cue is valid, attention is already directed towards the correct location, making it easier and faster to detect the target. Maintaining fixation does not affect reaction time significantly, and there is no evidence that participants are faster when the cue is invalid. Reaction time increases for invalid trials because participants need to disengage attention from the cued location and then shift it to the opposite side in order to detect the target.

Question 12

In Simons and Chabris's (1999) experiment, participants are focused on a challenging perceptual task, counting the white team's basketball passes while ignoring the black team's basketball passes.Because of the challenging nature of the task, ______.
A)inattentional blindness is more likely to occur
B)attentional capture of irrelevant stimuli is more likely to occur
C)attention shift is more likely to occur
D)the spotlight model of attention is needed to explain the data

Accepted Answer

Inattentional blindness occurs when we fail to perceive a stimulus that is right in front of us because our attention is focused elsewhere. The challenging nature of the counting task makes it more likely that participants will be so focused on counting the basketball passes that they may not notice the unexpected event (the gorilla walking through the scene).

Question 13

Anderson, Laurent, and Yantis (2013) conducted an experiment in which they paired particular colored stimuli with specific amounts of monetary reward.The participants learned to associate these stimuli with the particular rewards that occurred.The researchers found that ______.
A)participants could not direct their attention if an unpleasant color was associated with a large sum of money
B)participants learned to attend to money that was similar in color to the reward
C)when participants saw the reward-associated object in another task, it captured their attention and slowed their performance on the intended task
D)when participants attended to the reward, they learned the words for the colors in a new language more quickly

Accepted Answer

The researchers found that when participants saw the reward-associated object in another task, it captured their attention and slowed their performance on the intended task. This suggests that the reward-associated stimuli may have become salient and distracting for the participants. Choices A, B, and D are not supported by the information given in the passage.

Question 14

The difficulty we experience in detecting differences between two visual stimuli that are identical except for one or more changes to the image is known as ______.
A)attentional rapture
B)change blindness
C)stimulus salience
D)image processing deficit

Accepted Answer

Change blindness refers to the inability to detect changes in a visual stimulus when we are not paying attention to those changes or when the changes are subtle. This phenomenon occurs because our attentional focus is limited and we are not able to process all incoming information in detail.

Question 15

In the Posner cueing paradigm, participants attend to cues that indicate to which side a light will occur.However, the participant must maintain fixation at the central point.The goal of this study is to determine if ______.
A)alertness and attention refer to the same psychological construct
B)attention can be divided without a cost in performance during neutral trials
C)attention can be selectively introduced vicariously
D)attention can be covert, or directed to a location other than where the person is looking

Accepted Answer

The Posner cueing paradigm requires participants to maintain fixation at the central point while attending to cues indicating the location of a light. This means that attention can be directed to a location other than where the person is looking, which is an example of covert attention. Therefore, option D is the correct choice. Options A, B, and C are incorrect because they do not directly relate to the Posner cueing paradigm.

Question 16

Which of the following is an example of inattentional blindness?
A)Even though Dwayne focuses on talking to Jean, he still sees a car pull up to the curb.
B)Haruto is so focused on a man juggling oranges that he fails to notice two people rushing past behind the juggler.
C)Even though Ebba is blind, she still senses a blinking light three feet away.
D)Hans stares straight ahead, but he is unable to see a horseback rider approaching from the left.

Accepted Answer

Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice a fully-visible, but unexpected stimulus because attention is focused elsewhere. Haruto's focus on the juggler causes him to not notice the people rushing past.

Question 17

Simons and Chabris (1999) asked participants to watch a video that shows three people wearing white T-shirts, passing a basketball, and three people wearing black T-shirts, passing another basketball.They found that ______.
A)participants could not detect one basketball if they were tracking the other one
B)attention could be divided as long as the uniforms being worn were achromatic
C)attention could be divided and almost all participants noticed a cheerleader walking through the scene
D)nearly half of the participants failed to notice a person in a gorilla suit walking through the scene

Accepted Answer

Simons and Chabris (1999) found that nearly half of the participants failed to notice a person in a gorilla suit walking through the scene, demonstrating inattentional blindness. Therefore, option D is correct. Option A is incorrect because participants were able to detect both basketballs, but failed to notice the gorilla due to inattentional blindness. Option B is incorrect because attentional capacity is limited, and attention cannot be divided without a cost to performance, regardless of the uniform being worn. Option C is also incorrect because although nearly half the participants missed the gorilla, almost all of them did not miss a cheerleader walking through the scene because it was unexpected and unusual.

Question 18

On a train, Federico focuses on reading a novel while other people are talking and the conductor collects fares.This example shows ______.
A)divided attention
B)selective attention
C)elective attention
D)source monitoring

Accepted Answer

The example of Federico focusing on reading a novel while other people are talking and the conductor collects fares shows selective attention, as he is choosing to attend to and focus on one task (reading) while filtering out other stimuli (conversations and fare collection). Divided attention would involve attempting to focus on multiple stimuli simultaneously, elective attention refers to a deliberate choice in what to focus on, and source monitoring involves appropriately attributing a piece of information to its correct source.

Question 19

Drew, Võ, and Wolfe (2013) used expert radiologists as their test participants.The stimuli were CT scans taken to determine if patients had dangerous nodules on their lungs.What happened in the study?
A)More than 80% of the radiologists failed to detect the image of a gorilla in the CT scan.
B)Because of change blindness, many of the expert radiologists were unable to detect a change of CT scan while they were examining them.
C)The radiologists attended to relevant aspects of the stimuli only when their attention was selectively undivided.
D)When distracting elements were introduced, the radiologists focused on those instead of the relevant aspects of the CT scan.

Accepted Answer

More than 80% of the radiologists did not notice a gorilla image superimposed on the CT scans, illustrating how focused attention can cause significant details to be missed, a phenomenon related to inattentional blindness.

Question 20

The processes of attention that allow us to focus on one source when many are present are known as ______.
A)divided attention
B)selective attention
C)elective attention
D)source monitoring

Accepted Answer

Selective attention refers to the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things, and is commonly used when dealing with multiple sources of information. Divided attention refers to the ability to attend to multiple stimuli at once, whereas elective attention refers more to the conscious decision to concentrate on certain stimuli. Source monitoring refers to the ability to distinguish between different sources of information. Therefore, the best choice for the question is B) selective attention.

Quiz 9: Visual Attention

Which of the following is an example of zero stimulus onset asynchrony?

Beck, Muggleton, Walsh, and Lavie (2006) used transcranial magnetic stimulation to examine change blindness.They tried various combinations of inhibiting the parietal lobes of participants while those participants were doing a change-blindness task.They found that ______.

As Jules stares at the group of baseball players, his attention is drawn toward the one player not wearing a uniform.This is an example of ______.

The process of attending to multiple sources of information is known as ______.

Simons and Levin (1997) conducted a field experiment in which participants were chosen at random.In the experiment, an experimenter posing as a tourist asked a person on campus for directions.When the experimenter asking the question was changed, the researchers found that ______.

When a particularly odd image or striking sound captures our attention, that image or sound is said to have ______.

In Posner (1980) , valid cues were found to result in reaction times than neutral cues, but neutral cues were found to result in times than invalid cues.

Rensink, O'Regan, and Clark (1997) showed photographs of a variety of scenes, one image at a time.After a set period of looking at each photograph, it would disappear and be replaced by a nearly identical image.They found that ______.

At a library circulation desk, Daniela checks out materials while answering the telephone.This example shows ______.

In Simons and Chabris's (1999) experiment, participants are focused on a challenging perceptual task, counting the white team's basketball passes while ignoring the black team's basketball passes.Because of the challenging nature of the task, ______.

Anderson, Laurent, and Yantis (2013) conducted an experiment in which they paired particular colored stimuli with specific amounts of monetary reward.The participants learned to associate these stimuli with the particular rewards that occurred.The researchers found that ______.

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

In the Posner cueing paradigm, participants attend to cues that indicate to which side a light will occur.However, the participant must maintain fixation at the central point.The goal of this study is to determine if ______.

Which of the following is an example of inattentional blindness?

Simons and Chabris (1999) asked participants to watch a video that shows three people wearing white T-shirts, passing a basketball, and three people wearing black T-shirts, passing another basketball.They found that ______.

On a train, Federico focuses on reading a novel while other people are talking and the conductor collects fares.This example shows ______.

Drew, Võ, and Wolfe (2013) used expert radiologists as their test participants.The stimuli were CT scans taken to determine if patients had dangerous nodules on their lungs.What happened in the study?

The processes of attention that allow us to focus on one source when many are present are known as ______.