PSY 3128 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Parietal Lobe, Longitudinal Study, Long-Term Memory
5 Jun 2018
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Chapter 6: Basic Cognitive Functions: Information Processing, Attention, and Memory
Cognition refers to the way the mind works; specifically, the processes of attention, memory, intelligence, problem
solving, and the use of language.
Process speed is the amount of time it takes for an individual to analyze incoming information from the senses,
formulate decisions, and then prepare a response on the basis of that analysis. This is best measured by reaction time.
i. Simple reaction time tasks: participants are instructed to make a response like pushing the key as soon
as they see the target.
ii. Choice reaction time tasks: participants must make one response for one stimulus and another response
for a different stimulus. (ie. press f for red circle press k for blue circle)
iii. Cue Distraction Tasks: participants see a cue prior to the targets presentation. The cue directions them
to look in a particular area of a computer screen. The cue may or may not distract them while the actual
target appears.
General Slowing Hypothesis: the increase in reaction time reflects a general decline in information processing speed
within the nervous system of the aging individual.
The Age Complexity Hypothesis: that through slowing of central processes in the nervous system, age differences
increase as tasks become more complex and the older adults processing resources are stretched more and more to their
limit.
Attention involves the ability to focus or to concentrate on a portion of experience when ignoring other features of
that experience, to be able to shift that focus as demanded by the situation, and to be able to coordinate information
from multiple sources. Once your attention is focused on a piece of information, you are then able to perform further
cognitive operations, such as those needed for memory or problem solving.
i. Focused
ii. Divided – requires more mental effort and when attentional tasks are harder and there are more of them,
errors are more frequent.
Types of Attentional Tasks
i. Visual Search Tasks: locate an object among a set of distractions.
ii. Simple Visual Search Tasks: the target differs from the other stimuli by only one feature, such as shape,
color or size.
iii. Conjunction Visual Search: a lot of variants within the plot. (ie. A ton of red triangles, black triangles,
and red squares – you have to identify the single black square)
Both age groups perform less efficiently than they do on simple search tasks. However, the cost to performance is
higher in older adults.
Multi-tasking involves studying people’s ability to monitor multiple input sources.
Older adults have difficulty turning off one stimulus that is not relevant – this is called inhibitory control. Ie. The
Stroop Test.
Sustained Attention Task: participants must respond when they see a particular target appear out of a continuous
stream of stimuli.
- Older adults typically have more difficulty with sustained attention tasks than do younger adults.
Studies on aging and attentional performance suggest that not all abilities decline. For example, although older adults
are typically slower when processing information from visual displays, they can remember the location of an item
presented in a visual display and may be even more efficient at this task than are younger adults (Kramer et al., 2006).
Additionally, healthy older adults activate different areas of the brain in order to perform comparably with younger
adults on Stroop tasks (Schulte et al., 2009). Such results support models proposing that aging involves a degree of
neural plasticity.
Theories of Attention and Aging
i. Attentional Resources Theory: aging reduced available cognitive resources. Older adults have greater
difficulty with attentional tasks because they have less energy available for cognitive operations than to
their younger counterparts.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Chapter 6: basic cognitive functions: information processing, attention, and memory. Cognition refers to the way the mind works; specifically, the processes of attention, memory, intelligence, problem solving, and the use of language. Process speed is the amount of time it takes for an individual to analyze incoming information from the senses, formulate decisions, and then prepare a response on the basis of that analysis. Simple reaction time tasks: participants are instructed to make a response like pushing the key as soon as they see the target. Choice reaction time tasks: participants must make one response for one stimulus and another response for a different stimulus. (ie. press f for red circle press k for blue circle) Cue distraction tasks: participants see a cue prior to the targets presentation. The cue directions them to look in a particular area of a computer screen. The cue may or may not distract them while the actual target appears.
