Processing Capacity and Selective Attention

▪ The fact that we selectively attend to only a portion of all cues available is evident from
various common experiences.
▪ This selectivity is often attributed to inadequate channel capacity, our inability to
process all sensory cues simultaneously. This notion suggests that somewhere in the
processing of information a bottleneck exists, part of which is due to neurological
limitations.
▪ This bottleneck may not be a limitation but may actually be adaptive. Consider the
circuit breaker in your home or apartment when it shuts down because you are running
the microwave, the toaster, and the dishwasher simultaneously from the same circuit.
Rather than shutting down our cognitive processes, the cognitive system restricts the
amount of stimuli entering to avoid overloading.
▪ Selective Attention involves selecting some information for further processing and
inhibiting other information from receiving further processing. One possible way to
understand how this might work is to explore what happens when attention fails.

Failures of Selection

▪ One sort of failure occurs when there is a lot of information simultaneously present in
front of you, as at a party, and you are simply not capable of noticing all of it at once.
These failures are referred to as failures of selection in space.

▪ These failures to attend to information in space or in time are a by-product of a system

Failures of Selection in Space

▪ We can be insensitive to changes in modalities other than vision. It has been shown that
we miss changes between voices in an auditory scene, a phenomenon referred to as
change deafness.

▪ Missing some perceptual information from a cognitive perspective is the implication

▪ Our attention is driven and controlled via top-down processing, which is the
interpretation of incoming information based on prior knowledge, experiences, and
 expectations whereas bottom-up processing can be defined as sensory analysis that
begins at the entry-level—with what our senses can detect. This form of processing
begins with sensory data and goes up to the brain's integration of this sensory
information.

Failures of Selection in Time

▪ Temporal constraints impose restrictions on the temporal behavior exercised by a

▪ Attentional blink is a short period during which incoming information is not registered,
similar in effect to the physical blanking out of visual information during the blink of an
eye.

▪ The failure to detect the later appearance of a stimulus when the stimuli are presented
in a rapid sequence has been termed repetition blindness.

▪ It is believed that the failure to encode the second stimulus occurs because it is not
individuated or selected as a distinct event when it rapidly follows the first. Instead, the
second occurrence is assimilated to the first, and only one event is registered.

Attention
Attention is the means by which we actively process a limited amount of information from
the enormous amount of information available through our senses, our stored memories,
and our other cognitive processes.

Attention allows us to use our limited mental resources judiciously. By dimming the lights on
many stimuli from outside (sensations) and inside (thoughts and memories), we can
highlight the stimuli that interest us. This heightened focus increases the likelihood that we
can respond speedily and accurately to interesting stimuli.

Attention is the ability to actively process specific information in the environment while
tuning out other details. Attention is limited in terms of both capacity and duration, so it is
important to have ways to effectively manage the attentional resources we have available in
order to make sense of the world.
William James states that attention "is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid
form, of one out of what may seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of
thought. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others."

There are many different types of attention that people may use. Some of these include:

Sustained Attention
This form of attention, also known as concentration, is the ability to focus on one thing for a
continuous period. During this time, people keep their focus on the task at hand and
continue to engage in a behaviour until the task is complete or a certain period of time has
elapsed.

Alternating Attention
This type of attention involves multitasking or effortlessly shifting attention between two or
more things with different cognitive demands. It's not about focusing on more than one
thing at the same time, but about stopping attending to one thing and then switching to the
next task.

Selective Attention
Since attention is a limited resource, we have to be selective about what we decide to focus
on. Not only must we focus our attention on a specific item in our environment, but we
must also filter out an enormous number of other items. Selective attention involves being
able to choose and selectively attend to certain stimuli in the environment while at the
same time tuning other things out.

Focused Attention
This type of attention involves being able to be suddenly drawn to a specific visual, auditory,
or tactile stimuli such as a loud noise or a flash of light. It is a way of responding rapidly to
external stimuli, which can be particularly important in situations where something in the
environment requires immediate attention and quick action.

Limited Attention
Limited attention, or divided attention, is a form of attention that also involves multitasking.
In this case, however, attention is divided between multiple tasks. Rather than shifting
focus, people attend to these stimuli at the same time and may respond simultaneously to
multiple demands.

Theories of attention

● Bottle-neck theory: This theory suggests that individuals have a limited amount of
attentional resources that they can use at one time. Therefore, information and
stimuli are “filtered” somehow so that only the most important information is
 perceived. This theory was proposed by Broadbent(1958), later work was done by
Treisman(1964), Deutsch & Deutsch(1963). An experiment was done with A large
bottle filled with sand that is turned upside down. The bottleneck restricts the flow
of sand so that it slowly pours out instead of coming out all at once. Stimuli in our
environment are the same way- if we perceive every visual, auditory, olfactory, and
tactile sense all at once all of the time our brains would be overflowing. Broadbent
said that physical characteristics of messages are used to select one message for
further processing and others are lost. Deutsch& Deutsch said that all messages get
through, but that only one response can be made which was coined late selection.
● Filter-attenuation theory: Filter- attenuation theory was developed by Triesman by
modifying Broadbent’s theory. This theory proposes that the stimuli not getting
access to the selective filter at a given moment of time are not completely blocked.
The filter only attenuates (weakens) their strength. Thus some stimuli manage to
escape through the selective filter to reach higher levels of processing. It may be
possible that personally relevant stimuli can be noticed even at a very low level of
sound. Such stimuli, even though fairly weak, may also generate response
occasionally by slipping through the selective filter.
● Multimode theory: Multimode theory was developed by Johnston and Heinz. This
theory believes that attention is a flexible system that allows selection of a stimulus
over others at three stages. At stage 1 the sensory representation of stimuli are
constructed and at stage 3 the sensory and semantic representation enters the
consciousness. It is also suggested that more processing requires more mental effort.
When the messages are selected on the basis of stage 1 processing, less mental
process is required than when the selection is based on stage 3 processing (late
selection).

Improving Attention
For the most part, our ability to focus our attention on one thing while blocking out
competing distractors seems automatic. Yet the ability of people to selectively focus their
attention on a specific subject while dismissing others is very complex.

But even people without attention problems can benefit from using strategies designed to
improve attention and focus. Some things you can try include:

1. Avoiding multitasking: If you want to improve your focus, try to avoid multitasking.
Trying to juggle multiple tasks hurts productivity, so you can make the most of your
limited attentional research by only working on one thing at a time.
2. Getting enough sleep: Research has shown that sufficient sleep is essential for
maintaining optimal levels of attention. Not only that, the two appear to have a
bidirectional relationship; sleep helps regulate attention, but attentional demands
can also play a role in sleep.
3. Practising mindfulness: Mindfulness, which involves paying attention to the present
moment, is sometimes conceived of as a form of attention. Research has shown that
mindfulness training may be helpful for improving attention.
New ways of improving attention may also be on the horizon. This may be helpful for
treating attentional problems that are the result of some conditions.