PSYCH 120A Chapter Notes - Chapter 7.3: Frontal Lobe, Stroop Effect, Executive Dysfunction
Document Summary
Selective attention can be achieved by focusing on to be attended info or by inhibiting irrelevant representations and processes. Difficult to determine which is the case. Wisconsin card sort task: participants are not told criterion for matching but only whether their match is right or wrong. After sorting 10 cards, experimenter changes critical attribute without warning. Normal participants figure out from feedback that it has changed and what is the new one. Frontal patients are less able to switch attributes and perseverate for many trials. Tower of hanoi problem: 3 pegs and 3 different size rings, move all rings to peg 3 but only one at a time and larger ring cannot be placed on smaller one. Must do problem in mind, no physical/visual manipulations. Must attend to some disks while ignoring others as well as switching attention between mental moves and updating. Need to create subgoals and sequence steps. Frontal lobe patients take many more moves.
