PSYCH 1F03 Lecture 9: Attention

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH 1F03
• Professor: Joe Kim

Document Summary

Attention: allows us to navigate through our surroundings, without atte(cid:374)tio(cid:374) (cid:449)e (cid:449)ould(cid:374)"t (cid:271)e a(cid:271)le to (cid:272)arr(cid:455) (cid:272)o(cid:374)(cid:448)ersatio(cid:374)s, e(cid:374)jo(cid:455) (cid:373)usi(cid:272) et(cid:272). Defining attention: co(cid:448)ers (cid:449)ide ra(cid:374)ge of topi(cid:272), hard to defi(cid:374)e (cid:862)atte(cid:374)tio(cid:374)(cid:863, william james defi(cid:374)es it as (cid:862)the taki(cid:374)g possessio(cid:374) (cid:271)(cid:455) the (cid:373)i(cid:374)d(cid:863) Flashing lights: attention refers to conscious ability to attend to information relevant to our goals, when irrelevant information overwhelms us, we get distracted, walking down sidewalk becomes more difficult if looking for a lost friend. Automatic processes: triggered involuntarily by external events, trigger (cid:862)(cid:272)apture(cid:863) of e(cid:448)e(cid:374)ts, fast, efficient, alie(cid:374)t i(cid:374)for(cid:373)atio(cid:374): pie(cid:272)e of i(cid:374)for(cid:373)atio(cid:374) that (cid:374)aturall(cid:455) (cid:862)pops out(cid:863) at (cid:455)ou, ex. Sirens/flash of an emergency vehicle automatically grasps our attention. Controlled processes: guide attention voluntarily, operate more slowly, require more cognitive effort, ex. Driving: why do we turn down radio while looking for specific address, limited resources = becomes overwhelming (one thing at a time, or else all performance suffers) Consciously effortful tasks can become automatic through practice: ex.