Chapter 1. Attentional Filtering

1.1 Introduction

Cognitive Tool Kit
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Attentional Filtering

In this experiment, words will be presented to each ear. This experiment requires that you use headphones so please put headphones on and make sure that you have the head phones properly aligned so that the left ear of the headphone is on your left ear. Please turn off all other sounds on your computer like music so that this experiment is the only thing running.

It is impossible for us to process all the sources of information that come our way. We have to respond to some events while ignoring others. By and large, and with a remarkable record of success, we are able to select the stimuli that need our attention. This ability is called selective attention. We are not perfect at it, but we do well enough that we do not usually have to actively think about how we accomplish this function. Researchers often study the ways we segment the world so that we can gather the information we need and ignore the information we don’t. One of the first and still most common ways to understand how we select information is based on the channel or the source of the information. In visual terms, the computer window you are reading at this moment is a source or channel of information. If you are paying attention to this window, what is going on within it is kept together and selected. For the most part, you can ignore what is going on beyond the window, including any other areas of the computer screen.

One way to study this aspect of attention is to direct one set of stimuli to one ear and another set of stimuli to the other ear. Simple physical differences are important features by which we can select one stimulus to process over the other. Broadbent (1956) found that if stimuli are presented to both ears simultaneously, we tend to hear the information grouped by ear. Other simple physical differences have been found useful in helping us select the source of information. If two people are speaking, one with a high-pitched voice and the other with a low-pitched voice, the pitch of the voice can help you distinguish the two people (Triesman, 1964). Grey and Wedderburn (1960) ask whether the meaning of the stimulus can play a role in how we pay attention. In other words, is it more than just the physical characteristics of a stimulus that make selective attention possible? That is the question we will address in this experiment.

References:

Broadbent, D. E. (1956). Successive responses to simultaneous stimuli. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 8, 145-152.

Gray, J. A. & Wedderburn, A. A. I. (1960). Grouping strategies with simultaneous stimuli. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12, 180-184.

Triesman, A. (1964). The effect of irrelevant material on the efficiency of selective listening. American Journal of Psychology, 77, 206-214.

1.2 Experiment Setup

1.3 Instructions

Instructions

You will need to press the space bar to begin the experiment. You will then be presented with 2 three-word phrases simultaneously in each ear. You are to attend to what is presented in your right ear. At the end of the trial, a selection of words will be presented as buttons. Please select the words you heard in the attended ear in the order you heard them.

1.4 Experiment

Begin Experiment

1.5 Results

Results

1.6 Quiz

Quiz

Question 1.1

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Correct.
Incorrect.
The independent variable is the value that is changed by the experimenter. In this case, the major variable manipulated was whether the phrase used meaningful or random words, so the correct answer is meaningful phrases versus random words.

Question 1.2

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Correct.
Incorrect.
The dependent variable is the value that the experimenter collects to indicate how you performed in the experiment. In this case, the most important variable we measured was percent of the second word reported from the unattended ear.

Question 1.3

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Correct.
Incorrect.
The main issue being examined is how we use attention to select and process some information from the environment and not others.

Question 1.4

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Correct.
Incorrect.
What was interesting about the results of this experiment was the finding that if messages alternate from the attended ear, we still tend to hear the meaningful message.

Question 1.5

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Correct.
Incorrect.
The correct answer is attention follows meaning. This result shows us that our cognitive processes use many features of a stimulus—including simple sensory parameters such as meaning and attended ear—to select what information to process.