Kinesiology 1080A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Visual Search, Superior Colliculus, Psychological Refractory Period

• School: Western University
• Department: Kinesiology
• Course: Kinesiology 1080A/B
• Professor: Matthew Heath

Document Summary

Psychological refractory: delay in responding to the second of 2 stimuli presented in rapid succession. Example: football player, psychs people out on the filed: no attentional resources for the opponent to rec-cooperate because mental capacity is maximized (psychological refractory period before can respond) Stim 1 and stim 2 independently would have the same reaction times. Stimulus 2: response delayed at response selection stage until stimulus 1 has been fully processed due to prp (psychological refractory period) X= delay between the onset of stimulus. Red= normal reaction time when response 2 is independent (control) Why are certain athletes able to put certain athletes in a state of psychological refractoriness: barry sanders had good lateral speed to get by defense (side to side) Elegant way to demonstrate how attention is a single capacity resource. Assumes that we have more than 1 central resource. Interference between activities occurs if we draw on the same resources. No interference if we draw from different resources.