PSYC1020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Operational Definition, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dementia
PSYC1020: Attention and Cognitive Control; Parietal and Prefrontal Cortex
• Top-down and bottom-up processes
➢ Perception/conscious awareness and behaviour = combination of:
❖ Bottom-up processes – driven by external stimuli/unconscious states
❖ Top-down processes – cognitive control/volitional choice; modulation
by prior knowledge and experience.
❖ Example: Charlie Chaplin illusion (can be found online; demonstration
of the interaction between top-down and bottom-up processes).
❖ Top-down and bottom-up proesses i rai opete.
• Attention
➢ Eeryoe kos hat attetio is W.Jaes, .
➢ Though, there is not an agreed upon, operational definition.
➢ W. James definition:
❖ Taking possession of the mind [voluntary control]
❖ In clear and vivid form
❖ Of oe out of… seeral siultaeously possile ojets/trais of
thought [selective attention]
➢ Selectivity:
❖ Selet/prioritise stimuli based on location/features (whatever is relevant to
goal).
❖ Moig spotlight loatio.
❖ Relevant features (colour, shape, etc.)
➢ Capacity Limited:
❖ ‘esoures for attetio = liited
❖ We at atted to all ioig sesory iforatio
❖ We use attention to filter and prioritise sensory information
❖ Basically, we really ca’t ultitask. Instead, we switch attention between
stimuli constantly – but we are not attending to each at the same time.
➢ Cosious otrolled – top-down
❖ Selecting and prioritising according to task/goal
❖ Voluntarily shifting visual attention (spotlight) to search
➢ Autoati attetio – bottom-up
❖ Attetio aptured iolutarily y highly saliet stiuli
❖ Thigs that stad out or pop-out e.g. sudden movement, colours/shapes
standing out from background capture our attention.
❖ Example: advertisers know how to capture our attention involuntarily. Try to
think of your own examples!
• Parietal and prefrontal network for attention
➢ Corbetta and Schulman (2002)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Psyc1020: attention and cognitive control; parietal and prefrontal cortex: top-down and bottom-up processes. Perception/conscious awareness and behaviour = combination of: Bottom-up processes driven by external stimuli/unconscious states. Top-down processes cognitive control/volitional choice; modulation by prior knowledge and experience. Example: charlie chaplin illusion (can be found online; demonstration of the interaction between top-down and bottom-up processes). Top-down and bottom-up pro(cid:272)esses i(cid:374) (cid:271)rai(cid:374) (cid:858)(cid:272)o(cid:373)pete(cid:859): attention. (cid:858)e(cid:448)eryo(cid:374)e k(cid:374)o(cid:449)s (cid:449)hat atte(cid:374)tio(cid:374) is(cid:859) (cid:894)w. ja(cid:373)es, (cid:1005)(cid:1012)(cid:1013)(cid:1004)(cid:895). Though, there is not an agreed upon, operational definition. Taking possession of the mind [voluntary control] Of o(cid:374)e out of se(cid:448)eral si(cid:373)ulta(cid:374)eously possi(cid:271)le o(cid:271)je(cid:272)ts/trai(cid:374)s of thought [selective attention] (cid:858)sele(cid:272)t(cid:859)/prioritise stimuli based on location/features (whatever is relevant to goal). We (cid:272)a(cid:374)(cid:859)t (cid:858)atte(cid:374)d(cid:859) to all i(cid:374)(cid:272)o(cid:373)i(cid:374)g se(cid:374)sory i(cid:374)for(cid:373)atio(cid:374) We use attention to filter and prioritise sensory information. Instead, we switch attention between stimuli constantly but we are not attending to each at the same time. Voluntarily shifting visual attention (spotlight) to search. Atte(cid:374)tio(cid:374) (cid:858)(cid:272)aptured(cid:859) i(cid:374)(cid:448)olu(cid:374)tarily (cid:271)y highly salie(cid:374)t sti(cid:373)uli.
