Week 3: Perception & Attention
Ch. 4 & Ch. 5
1
4.1.1 Sensation versus Perception
1
Sensation:
The conversion of physical properties of the world or
body into a code by the peripheral nervous system.
2
Perception:
The processing and interpretation of sensory information
into a form that is useful for behavioral decisions.
2
4.1.1 The External Senses
Perception: The 5 Senses
Sight Hearing Touch Taste Smell
Exteroception:
The measurement (sensation) and interpretation (perception) of external
environmental stimuli.
Sense Stimulus Type
Vision/Sight Light entering eye
Audition/Hearing Vibrations in the air entering ear canal
Touch Pressure, heat, & vibrations on skin
Gustation/Taste Chemical compounds in the mouth
3
Olfactory/Smell Airborne chemical in nasal passage
4.1.1 The Internal Senses
Interoception:
Senses that measure properties in our bodies.
For Example…
o Proprioception: Sense of where our limbs are in space
o Nociception: Sense of pain due to body damage
o Equilibrioception: Sense of balance
4
4.2 Sensory Processing
All perceptual modalities depend on the same basic processes:
1
Transduction of physical energy into a neural
code by the senses.
2
Transmission to the brain through subcortical and
cortical structures.
3
Processing in the cortex to generate behaviors.
5
4.2.1 The Visual Sensory System
The Eye Gathers and focuses light into an image and turns the result into
a neural signal.
Pupil: A hole in the iris that expands and contracts to
take in or restrict light.
Cornea: Transparent rubbery layer of tissue at the
front of the eye.
Iris: Circular ring of colored muscle at the front of the
eyeball.
6
4.2.1 Sensory Cells in the Retina
Rods
o Very sensitive; require less light to be stimulated.
o Better for seeing in lower-light conditions (at night).
o Located in periphery (outside retina).
o Insensitive to color.
Cones
o Less light-sensitive.
o Concentrated in fovea; supports high-acuity vision.
o Better for seeing in well-lit conditions.
o Different structural variations respond to colors.
7
4.2.1 The Visual Pathway
About 90% of visual information is
sent to the thalamus.
o Acts as a way-station between
sensory inputs and the cortex.
o Other information is sent to non-
perceptual sub-functions.
o Setting circadian rhythms
o Controlling basic eye movements
8
4.2.1 Organization of Visual Processing
As much as half, and up to 30 cortical regions, and used in visual processing.
Different parts are dedicated to different kinds of processing.
General Rule:
Visual systems are generally hierarchical.
As you travel up the system (away
from sensory input), properties that
neurons respond to become more
complex and specific.
Hierarchy of Visual Processing
9
4.2.1 The Dorsal and Ventral Visual Streams
After visual input reaches the cortex…
The dorsal stream projects upward
and stops in the parietal lobe.
The ventral stream projects downward
and stops in the temporal lobe.
Dorsal (green) and Ventral (purple) Visual Streams 10
4.2.1 Functional Localization in Vision
Prosopagnosia Semantic Agnosia
Difficulty in recognizing individual faces. Difficulty in recognizing every-day objects.
o Do not suffer general visual/memory o Can identify faces and identities
impairments. o Impaired ability to name tool/object use and
o Can recognize objects and their functions. functions.
o Can identify a face from other objects, but o Example: eating utensils, clothing articles, etc.
not identity.
The existence of disassociated agnosias suggest visual capabilities may depend on
different parts of the brain.
FFA (Fusiform Face Area): Region in the inferior temporal cortex; greater activity
when people engage in face vs non-face recognition.
LOC (Lateral Occipital Cortex): Activated in object-recognition tasks.
11
4.2.1 Understanding the FFA
Gauthier & Tarr: 1997
Participants initially had difficulty
distinguishing one Greeble from
another.
However, they became
proficient after days of training.
Greebles
Researchers collected fMRI data from participants looking at Greebles vs
other objects…
Greebles activated the FFA just as faces do.
Conclusion: The FFA is not specialized for faces, but for visual expertise.
12
4.3.1 Constructive vs Direct Models of Perception
13
4.3.1 Why Is the Direct Model Attractive?
o Many objects in the environment have affordances:
Features that invite certain actions (Gibson)
o All else being equal, affordance theory are theoretically
more parsimonious and therefore preferable
o Same reasoning applies to direct perception, more
generally construed
o Question: But is all else equal?
14
4.3.2 The Ambiguity of Sensory Stimuli
According to the Constructivist Theory, sensory data is used as evidence
to construct the 3D external world.
The reality we perceive is a construction of the brain.
o But sensory input can be interpreted in a
variety of ways.
15
4.3.2 Exhibit 1: Illusions
When the brain wrongly infers external environments from sensory input.
Misperceiving the lightness of an object:
o Incorrectly perceiving the shade of an object.
o Have to consider shade, light hitting the
object, and surrounding colors.
Lightness Illusion
16
4.3.2 Exhibit 2: Bistable Stimuli
Images in which the brain can ‘change its mind’ when it views it.
o The mind changes its interpretation of
the ambiguous stimulus.
o Bistable stimuli also exist for auditory
sensory input.
o In these cases, interpretation is not
based on a stimulus along, but a
stimulus and percept.
Bistable Cube Stimulus
17
4.3.3 Bottom-Up vs Top-Down Processing
2 methods brains use to converge on the correct percept:
Bottom-Up Processing Top-Down Processing
Does not require specific knowledge Leveraging knowledge or expectations
of the stimulus. that are not sensory stimuli to
process it.
Computational tricks are developed
to arrive at a more useful description.
Phonemic Restoration Effect
Bottom-Up X Top-Down processing
The brain fills in missing sounds from
speech signals based on
expectations from prior experience.
18
4.4 Perceptual Cognitive Tasks
How would you divide this image up Computerized identification of
if you had to? object edges.
Object Segmentation Digital Object Segmentation
Probably based on where one object Algorithm identifies points of change,
ends, and the other begins. corresponding to boundaries.
19
4.4.2 Figure-Ground Assignment
Assigning a visual boundary to one side or the other.
Do you see a vase?
Or two faces?
20
Rubin’s Bistable Face/Vase
4.4.2 Figure-Ground Cues
o Bias to assign figure o Assigned figure bias o Assigned figure bias
or ground based on to shapes with to smaller objects.
shape contour. bilateral mirror o Larger objects as
symmetry backgrounds.
o Assigned figures are
more convex ( )
21
4.4.3 Visual Grouping
Combining spatially separate regions into unified wholes.
A chair continues to be behind a desk even if part
of it is visually obscured.
Grouping Cues:
22
4.4.4 Depth Perception
Determining how far away an object is and its shape in 3D space.
Depth Cues:
Occlusion (Blocking) Motion Parallax Binocular Disparity
23
4.4.5 Recognition 1: Identification
The ability to identify the same
object or person across variations.
Individuals can identify the target
in the picture even though the
images are from drastically
different angles.
Identification 24
4.4.5 Recognition 2: Classification
Classification:
Recognizing an object as a member of a category even if one has never
encountered that specific example.
What is this target?
One can classify this as a dog even
DOG if you have never seen this breed.
Classification: Dog
25
4.4.5 Theories of Recognition
How do we overcome variability in object presentation and recognize objects?
Researchers suggest we use features of objects that remain common across variations.
These symbols look very different from one another, but clearly have some things in
common.
o They all contain (approximately) vertical lines.
o They all have two other lines in opposite ~45-degree angles.
26
4.4.6 Contextual Factors in Recognition
Although research often examines object recognition in isolation, objects
rarely appear out of context.
The context in which an object appears provides important information for recognition.
He Slept in the Red? The Rose was Bright Red?
or or
He Slept in the Bed? The Rose was Bright Bed?
Could be Red or Bed . . .depends on the context! 27
5.1 Attention versus Perception
Everyone knows what attention is. It is taking
possession of the mind, in clear vivid form, of one out of
what seems several simultaneously possible objects or
trains of thought. Focalization, concentration of
consciousness are of its essence. It implies a withdrawal
from some things in order to deal effectively with others.
- William James (1980)
28
5.1.2 Selective Attention
The Cocktail Party Effect
The ability to attend to a
specific voice in an environment
with other competing voices.
The Cocktail Party Effect 29
5.1.2 The Dichotic Listening Task (Cherry, 1953)
o Participants wear headphones
with different sound streams
in the right and left ears.
o Task: mimic the sound in the
attended ear and ignore the
other input.
o Participants could identify the
unattended voice as male or
female, but little else.
The Dichotomous Listening Task 30
5.2 Broadbent's Filter Model
Broadbent (1958):
A large amount of Information load is Selective attention Meaning of the
sensory information held briefly in determines which input is determined
enters the nervous Sensory Memory. information and moved to LTM.
system. proceeds to the
detector.
31
5.2 Breakthrough Stimuli
Moray (1959):
In some cases, the meaning of an unattended stimulus breaks through.
Participants were often able to
process unattended information
if their name was spoken in the
unattended channel.
Breakthrough Processing
32
5.2 More Evidence for Late(r) Filtering
Grey & Weddeburn (1960):
If a meaningful narrative was played such that each successive word alternated
between ears, people would follow then narrative.
If numbers were inserted into the
audio, participants would
continue to report the narrative,
not the numbers.
This result only makes sense if
participants could perceive the
meaning of the words in the
unattended ear. Alternating Narrative Input
33
5.2 The Attenuator Model (Treisman, 1964/1969)
There is some processing of incoming stimulus based on physical properties.
Some information makes its way to the filter, although it is attenuated.
Meaning of the reduced signal can be identified in the Dictionary Unit.
Interpreted information is subsequently moved into memory for storage.
34
5.2 Some Evidence for the Attenuator Model
McKay (1973):
Conducted another iteration of the Dichotic Listening Task.
Participants focused on sentences with
ambiguous meanings while unattended
channels played audio that would add
context to the sentence.
They did not remember hearing the
word money, but their memory of the
sentence often contained a money
bank and not a river bank.
35
5.3 Attentional Load
Attention is a cognitive resource that is finite
and can be distributed unequally across
different objects/tasks.
Attentional Load:
How much processing
resources are needed to
perform a given task.
Attentional Distribution
36
5.3 The Flanker Task (Eriksen & Eriksen, 1974)
37
5.3 Limited Capacity of Attention
Lavie (1995):
The incompatible flanker only caused
an increase in reaction time in low-
load, but not high-load, conditions.
Low-Load Task:
→ Low difficulty results in left-over
cognitive resources.
→ Remaining resources end up processing
flanker stimuli, even when it is not
wanted.
→ No remaining resources in high-load
condition.
38
5.3.1 Automatic Processing
Reading is another familiar automatic process.
May need to attend to fully understand, but individual
words can ‘pop out’ without us paying attention.
Stroop (1935):
People took longer to do a color-naming task when the words spelled out do not
match the text color.
Yellow Yellow Yellow
People read even when they have no incentive or desire to.
39
5.4 Divided/Split Attention
Attending to more than one object/task at the same time.
Splitting attention between two tasks, performance on each task tends to suffer.
Fox, Rosen, & Crawford (2009):
Students completing a reading task while also instant
messaging showed significantly slower performance.
Texting while driving increases the probability of getting
into an accident at rates similar to drunk driving!
40
5.4 Divided Attention in Simulated Driving
Drews et al. (2008):
Much larger errors in driving simulation when talking on the cell
phone versus talking to a passenger in the car.
41
5.4 Spilt Attention versus Task Switching
There is some debate about whether people can attend to more than one
object at once.
Task Switching:
Quickly switching attention from one task to another.
o Takes up attentional resources, leading to increased time for task completion.
o Those who multi-task often suffer the greatest task-switching costs!
Split Attention:
There is evidence for multi-object tracking
o People can keep track of 4-5 objects concurrently (e.g., Cowan, 2000).
42
5.5 How Does Attention Work?
Posner Task (Posner, 1980):
After a fixation cross, shown an
arrow that pointed to where a
shape was likely to appear.
Task: Respond as quickly as
possible when a target shape
appears.
Valid Trials: Target appears in
location where cue pointed. Participants responded faster to valid trials compared to
Invalid Trials: Target appears in invalid trials…attention allowed them to prepare for shape ID.
different location than where
cue pointed.
Pre-Activation?
The processing needed for specific stimuli that are presented or about to be presented.
Makes us more attuned to stimuli and quicker to respond to them. 43
5.5.1 Beyond Activation: Attention & Binding
Feature-Integration Theory (Treisman & Galede,1980):
Attention is needed to combine distinct features into coherent perceptual objects.
These are simple shapes but require many different regions of the brain to process.
o One for processing shape.
o Another for processing color.
44
5.5.1 The Visual Search Paradigm
Single-Feature Search: Conjunction Search:
Find the green square: Find the tilted red target:
Pop-Out: the target is easily distinguished Target object cannot be distinguished by
due to a single distinctive feature. one property.
45
5.6 Allocation of Attention
What determines what we attend to and what we don’t?
Exogenous Control Endogenous Control
When a property of the When an individual chooses
environment drives us to pay what to pay attention to based
attention. on goals and intentions.
For example… For example…
A bright light A loud noise Reading a book
46
5.6.1 Overt and Covert Attention
Allocation of attention is typically coupled with where we fixate our eyes.
Looking directly at something is a way of maximizing
the amount of visual information we obtain about it.
Overt Attention: Covert Attention:
Moving your eyes to where you are attending. Attending to a stimulus without moving your gaze.
Try and identify the letters
Fixate on the + above and below without
moving your eyes.
47
5.7 Neural Mechanisms of Attention
Shulman et al. (1999):
Participants were shown a screen with an arrow pointing in a certain direction.
Cue was followed by moving dots.
Brain activity was recorded.
Condition 1 Condition 2
Participants reported whether the dots were Participants only had to watch the moving dots.
moving in the direction the arrow was pointing.
48
5.7 Attentional Processing in the Parietal Lobe
FMRI Results (Shulman et al., 1999):
Medial temporal lobes and intraparietal
sulcus showed more activation in the
directional versus passive task (motion
area).
These findings occurred during the
curing period, before motion was
presented.
49
5.7 Attentional Processing in the Frontal Lobe
Corbetta & Shulman (2002):
Goal and stimulus-driven attention networks need to interact.
For example…
Actively searching for a black car in
a crowded lot may make black cars
more salient in the visual system.
Frontal Eye Field:
o Found in the frontal lobe.
o Has a retinotopic map.
o Engages in the allocation of
covert and overt attention.
50
5.7.1 Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Associated with the inability to focus on a central task.
Due at least in part to failures of the frontoparietal networks to control
attention and suppress impulses.
Durston et al. (2003):
Go/No-Go Task:
51
5.7.1 Balint Syndrome
Usually occurs due to a stroke that affects
both parietal lobes.
Oculomotor apraxia:
Inability to execute visually guided movements.
Simultanagnosia:
Inability to identify or use more than one object in a
scene properly at a time.
Individuals with this deficit cannot see the man in
this painting, only the fruits which comprise him!
o They can see local features but
struggle to see global features.
52
Fruit Man
5.7.1 Visual Neglect
Typically occurs with damage to the right
temporal lobe.
o The damaged parietal lobe causes the brain
to ignore the left visual field.
o Damage to the left temporal lobe does not
produce right visual field neglect...
o Left parietal lobe generates attention to
the right visual field, but the right
parietal lobe can generate attention to
both fields.
53
5.7.1 Attention in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Those with autism also show differential abilities in facial processing.
Less successful at
Different facial scanning patterns…
identifying emotions
(driven by fearful expression) Controls fixated on the
eyes and the center of
the face…
…those with autism
focused on the outside
regions of the face.
Individuals with (vs without) ASD are not attending to the same facial
information, leading to differences in facial and emotional perception. 54