Attention and Information Processing (6B) - MCAT Psychological and Social Foundations

Maintaining attention on a task over an extended time. Critical for tasks requiring prolonged focus like monitoring.

Filtering occurs before semantic processing of unattended input. Unattended information is blocked at sensory level.

Failure to notice an unexpected stimulus when attention is elsewhere. Demonstrates limits of attention (e.g., missing gorilla in video).

Limited capacity (resource) model of attention. Explains why multitasking impairs performance.

Pop-out (feature) search. Single feature allows parallel processing without focused attention.

A fast rule-of-thumb strategy that reduces cognitive effort. Mental shortcuts that simplify complex decisions.

Focusing on one stimulus while filtering out others. Allows focus on relevant information while ignoring distractions.

Allocating attention to multiple tasks or stimuli at once. Performance often decreases due to limited cognitive resources.

Noticing salient stimuli (for example, your name) amid noise. Demonstrates selective attention to personally relevant stimuli.

Unattended input is weakened, not blocked; salient items break through. Explains why we notice our name in unattended conversations.

All stimuli are processed for meaning before selection. Selection occurs after semantic analysis of all inputs.

Failure to detect changes in a visual scene across disruptions. Shows how attention affects visual perception continuity.

Slower responses when word meaning conflicts with ink color. Automatic reading interferes with naming ink colors.

Bottom-up: data-driven; Top-down: expectation/knowledge-driven. Sensory input vs. prior knowledge guide processing.

A cognitive framework that organizes and interprets information. Mental templates that guide perception and memory.

Judging likelihood by how easily examples come to mind. Recent or vivid events seem more probable than they are.

Judging probability by similarity to a prototype. Ignores base rates when making probability judgments.

Seeking or interpreting information to support existing beliefs. Leads to ignoring contradictory evidence.

Exogenous (stimulus-driven) attention. Bottom-up process triggered by salient stimulus properties.

Endogenous (goal-directed) attention. Top-down process controlled by intentions and expectations.

Attention enhances processing in a limited region of the visual field. Metaphor for how attention moves and focuses like a beam of light.

Top-down regulation of attention, including inhibition and task switching. Frontal lobe function managing attention allocation and focus.

Automatic shift of attention toward novel or salient stimuli. Evolutionary mechanism for detecting potential threats or opportunities.

Inattentional blindness. Attention focused on phone prevents noticing environmental stimuli.

Serial search requiring attention to bind multiple features to find a target. Requires effortful, sequential scanning when features must be combined.

Parallel search where a distinctive feature makes the target immediately salient. Single feature difference allows rapid, parallel visual processing.

Unattended input is weakened, not blocked; salient items can break through. Middle-ground theory allowing some semantic processing of unattended input.

Attending to one stimulus while filtering out competing stimuli. Cocktail party effect exemplifies this focused processing ability.

Selective focusing of cognitive resources on specific stimuli. Mental process that prioritizes relevant information for processing.