2023-24 Psychology - 03 - Attention

PSYCHOLOGY
OF PERCEPTION AND
ATTENTION
BMEGT52A002 and 004
Halmos Alexandra Anna
MINDFUL CONVERSATION
find a partner
think of a time when you were motivated or demotivaed

in the course of the last week
tell about it to your partner
the task of your partner is to pay mindful attention on
what you have to say. Once you finished, your partner
should repeat what you just said
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: THE SCIENCE OF HOW WE THINK
Cognitive psychology involves the study of internal mental processes—all of the

workings inside your brain, including perception, thinking, memory, attention,
language, problem-solving, and learning
SENSATION: PHYSICAL STIMULI AND SENSES
type of stimuli capturing stimuli
Electromagnetic wave vision
hearing
touching
mechanical effect
pain
kinesthetic sensation (body posture)
gravitation vestibular sensation (spatial orientation)
heat thermoreceptors
gustation (taste)
chemical energy
olfaction (smell, odor detection)
HUMAN VISION
HUMAN VISION
HUMAN VISION
HUMAN VISION
HUMAN VISION
COLOURS AND VIDEO GAME WIN RATES
COLOURS AND VIDEO GAME WIN RATE
Unreal Tournament 2004
• Red team wins 55% of games (based on 1347
professional games)
• Explanations:
• The color red in nature signals increased agression and
dominance (and danger)
• The enemy will feel less dominant, starting with a
small handicap
• Judges on taekwodo fights: digitally manipulated
footage; switching which contestant is in blue and red–
the one in red received more points
PERCEPTION
PERCEPTION
PERCEPTION
A MODEL OF HUMAN INFORMATION PROCESSING
ATTENTION
The focusing of consciousness on a specific object or phenomenon, the
tuning of the senses to optimally receive a new stimulus.
“Attention is the taking possession by the mind in clear and vivid form, of
one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of
thought...It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal
effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the
confused, dazed, scatterbrained state."
William James, founding father of psychology

Principles of Psychology (1890)
ATTENTION
The focusing of consciousness on a specific object or phenomenon, the
tuning of the senses to optimally receive a new stimulus.
“Attention is the taking possession by the mind in clear and vivid form, of
one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of
thought...It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal
effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the
confused, dazed, scatterbrained state."
William James, founding father of psychology

Principles of Psychology (1890)
WHY ATTENTION MATTERS
When attention is compromised, achievement of any kind becomes far

more challenging.
Some may seem naturally to have more control over their focus, but
most people’s ability to pay attention varies depending on the situation,
the number of distractions they face, and whether they are employing
the aid of stimulants like caffeine or Ritalin. And others—particularly
those with ADHD or other mental health concerns—may struggle to pay
attention even when it matters most.
TYPES OF ATTENTION
A) intentional: B) involuntary: orientation

purposefully directed, a reflex, orientation
necessary element of
intentional action
INTENTIONAL ATTENTION
urability: strength, concentration

Transmission: lack of attention (perseveration)
Capacity theory: test your capacity
Kahneman described attention as a reservoir of mental energy from which

resources are drawn to meet situational attentional demands for task
processing (1973). The capacity theory refers to phenomenon that in times
when our attentional capacity is stretched – for instance, when we are
driving, listening to music, and texting all at once – we are left effectively
blind to information we would easily notice under normal circumstances
(Source).
attention span of intentional attention
The ability to focus on a particular task for an extended period of time can
vary widely among individuals.
Evolutionary psychologists speculate that individuals with long and short
attention spans both had value in early human societies.
People with short attention spans might have been novelty-seekers, more
adventurous and quicker to migrate than others.
Attention span as a Attention span as a time interval:

number of items (the In 2004, researchers found the average
Miller-number, 1956): attention span on any screen to be 2.5 minutes
Most people have a on average while working on a Word document.
working memory of Around 2012 they found it to be 75 seconds.
7+-2 items. In the last five years, they found it to average
about 47 seconds (APA, 2023).
HOW MANY CAN YOU REMEMBER?
Attention span as a number of items:
191419691492
FOCUSING
It’s not unusual for our focus to stray, especially when we’re
consumed by stress or when the task is routine. Many people, for
example, have found themselves in their driveway without remembering
anything about their trip home.
Choose a spot on the wall and try to pay attention to it and only it with
all your mental capacity. Introspect when the first thought pops up in
your head.
Self-report attention test

SHOULD WE MULTITASK?
Many people attempt to perform two or more tasks at once—driving

while texting, for example, or reading while listening to a podcast—but
a growing body of research finds that attempting to split our focus
actually leads to lower efficiency on both tasks, greater stress and
distractibility, and even reductions in the brain’s grey matter.
THE EFFECT OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION ON ATTENTION
A key to maintaining focus is the ability to recover attention quickly

after a distraction. Research shows that people who get less sleep find
it much more difficult to rebound from distraction, to complete tasks,
and to finish jobs without mistakes. And in the case of driving, when
focus is absolutely essential, insufficient rest leads to a higher accident
rate.
AUTOMATIC BRAIN PROCESSES AND
COGNITIVE CONTROL
What does the Stroop test tell us about cognition? The Stroop effect
demonstrates that the automatic process of reading is unintentional and
difficult to prevent or control. It assesses the ability to inhibit cognitive
interference, which occurs when the processing of a stimulus feature
affects the simultaneous processing of another attribute of the same
stimulus (Stroop, 1935). It was used to examine patterns of cognitive
decline in Alzheimer-type dementia (ATD) and non-Alzheimer dementia.
practice challenge
Try the Stroop test here

SELECTIVE ATTENTION TEST
How many times are the ball passed on?

Test your attention
SEE YOU ALL
NEXT WEEK!
Thank you for joining me
today!
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PSYCHOLOGY

think of a time when you were motivated or demotivaed

Cognitive psychology involves the study of internal mental processes—all of the

Electromagnetic wave vision

gravitation vestibular sensation (spatial orientation)

William James, founding father of psychology

William James, founding father of psychology

When attention is compromised, achievement of any kind becomes far

A) intentional: B) involuntary: orientation

urability: strength, concentration

Kahneman described attention as a reservoir of mental energy from which

Attention span as a Attention span as a time interval:

Attention span as a number of items:

Self-report attention test

Many people attempt to perform two or more tasks at once—driving

A key to maintaining focus is the ability to recover attention quickly

Try the Stroop test here

How many times are the ball passed on?

Slides design and professional content is shared by

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