Landry is discussing summer plans with a friend at a busy restaurant.He suddenly notices that someone at a nearby table has mentioned his name,and he shifts his attention to the conversation at that other table.Which of the following is the term often used to describe this experience?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The term often used to describe the experience of shifting attention to a conversation that mentions one's name at a nearby table is the cocktail party effect. This phenomenon refers to the brain's ability to filter and focus on relevant auditory stimuli amidst competing background noise, similar to focusing on a single conversation at a party while ignoring others. The other options, such as early selection hypothesis, which suggests processing occurs before attentional selection, or failure of the orienting system, which describes difficulty shifting attention, are not as applicable to this scenario. Attention as a spotlight is a broader concept describing the selective nature of attention.

Landry Is Discussing Summer Plans with a Friend at a Busy