PSYC20007 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Cognitive Psychology, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Parietal Lobe
14 Jun 2018
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Lecture 9 - Tuesday 19 September 2017
PSYC20007 - COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
LECTURE 9
OBJECT BASED ATTENTION & THE COGNITIVE
NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF ATTENTION
1. OBJECT BASED ATTENTION (1-12)
WHAT DOES ATTENTION ACT UPON?
•(1) Spotlight theory, FIT etc. assume that attention acts on a region of space – enhances
processing in that region.
•Alternative: attention acts on objects in space, not space itself: object based theories
•What is the evidence and is it possible to distinguish?
ROCK & GUTTMAN (1981)
•(2) Overlapping abstract shapes in contrasting colours. Attend to one and ignore the other and
make an aesthetic appeal of the colour you attend to.
•Memory test: good memory for attended figure, none for unattended figure (cf. Cherry, 1953)
•Objects occupy same region of space. Not consistent with spotlight idea (anything in spotlight
region is attended to).
•Maybe the object of attention is the object, not the space it occupies?
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE UNATTENDED SHAPE?
•(3)Maybe it’s not perceived or not fully perceived?
•Maybe people quickly forget the stimulus they’re not attending to?
•Inattentional amnesia
•(cf. early vs. late selection)
•Tipper (1985, etc.)
•Pairs of nameable, every day red-green figures: trumpet-kite, anchor-trumpet etc.
•Had to ignore one item and name the other.
•What is the effect of ignoring an object in subsequent trials where the object to be named is
the previously ignored one? They found the reaction time to name these objects was actually
slower. This is negative priming.
NEGATIVE PRIMING
•(4) “Negative priming” (whereas regular priming produces speed up)
•Means ignored shape must have been perceived to produce effect on subsequent trial (cf. late
selection). Must have been perceived to a level where some aspects of it were recognised.
IMPLICATIONS OF ROCK & GUTTMAN & NEGATIVE PRIMING
•(5) Possible to attend to one object and ignore another when both occupy same region of space –
how?
•Maybe attention operates on the object, not the space.
EVIDENCE FOR OBJECT BASED ATTENTION
•(6) Duncan (1984): stimuli differing on four attributes: box size, gap
side, line slant, dotted or dashed line
•Flash briefly, ask to report two of the attributes (e.g., line slant, gap
side)
•Judgements were more accurate if the two attributes they were asked to
report belonged to the same object than different objects.
•(7) Same: box size and gap side or line slant and line style (dotted/
dashed)
•Different: box size and line slant, etc.
Lecture 9 - Tuesday 19 September 2017
PSYC20007 - COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
•Stimuli occupy same region of space
•Evidence that attention operates on whole objects?
SOCIAL CUING PARADIGM
OBJECT BASED ATTENTION (EGLY,
DRIVER, RAFAL, 1994)
•(8) Modified the social cuing paradigm.
•Miscued locations in same object or different
object – same distance from cued location
•Space-based theories says miscuing costs
should be the same.
•(9) Same object advantage: Mean RTs faster to
miscued stimuli if in same object.
•Evidence that cuing effect spreads to encompass cued objects.
EFFECTS OF AN OCCLUDING BAR (MOORE, YANTIS &
VAUGHAN, 1998)
•(10) Occluding bar in stereo space: still find
same object advantage.
•Not related to crossing edges or boundaries;
agrees with percept of continuous objects.
•We perceive continuous objects even if parts of
them are obscured or occluded.
•Even if there is an occluding bar, still faster if
target matches cue.
•Properties of attention thus probably follow
properties of perception.
NEUROIMAGING EVIDENCE FOR OBJECT BASED
ATTENTION
• (11) Selective fMRI activation when viewing houses and faces
• Fusiform face area – active
when viewing faces
• Parahippocampal place area –
active when viewing houses
• Superimpose: attend to face or
house
• Face: FFA up, PPA down; house
PPA up, FFA down.
SUMMARY
• Evidence that attention selects objects in space – possibly
by enhancing representation of selected object; suppression
of other object
• Attention to part of an object benefits other parts
Document Summary
Neuropsychology of attention: object based attention (1-12) Rock & guttman (1981: (2) overlapping abstract shapes in contrasting colours. Attend to one and ignore the other and make an aesthetic appeal of the colour you attend to: memory test: good memory for attended figure, none for unattended figure (cf. Cherry, 1953: objects occupy same region of space. They found the reaction time to name these objects was actually slower. Negative priming: (4) negative priming (whereas regular priming produces speed up, means ignored shape must have been perceived to produce effect on subsequent trial (cf. late selection). Must have been perceived to a level where some aspects of it were recognised. Implications of rock & guttman & negative priming: (5) possible to attend to one object and ignore another when both occupy same region of space how, maybe attention operates on the object, not the space. Effects of an occluding bar (moore, yantis &
