Attention & Higher Cognition Cheat Sheet

Attention is a selective process that filters information for deeper processing, is limited in capacity, and is supported by complex brain networks. It is closely tied to consciousness and decision-making.

Core Principles

• Attention is selective, focusing on one stimulus while ignoring others.
• Vigilance is a general level of alertness, distinct from selective attention.
• Overt attention involves eye movements; covert attention does not.
• Attention is limited; focusing on one stream can cause loss of another (Cocktail Party Effect).
• Inattentional blindness occurs when attention is focused elsewhere, causing missed stimuli.
• Attention acts like a spotlight, processing only one main thing at a time.
• Early vs. Late Selection debates how information is filtered.
• Voluntary (endogenous) attention is goal-directed; reflexive (exogenous) attention is automatic.
• Inhibition of return slows re-engagement with a previously attended location.
• Visual search involves feature search (fast) and conjunction search (slow).
• The binding problem questions how separate features are combined into one object.
• Attention enhances neural activity in specific brain regions.
• Subcortical systems (Superior Colliculus, Pulvinar) and cortical networks (Dorsal Frontoparietal, Right Temporoparietal) support attention.
• Attention disorders like Hemispatial Neglect and Bálint's Syndrome highlight attention's role.
• ADHD involves difficulty sustaining attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.
• Consciousness is awareness of internal/external worlds and is closely tied to attention.
• Brain networks (DMN, Frontoparietal) are involved in consciousness.
• The 'hard problem' of consciousness concerns subjective experience (qualia).
• Decisions begin in the brain before conscious awareness.
• The prefrontal cortex is central to executive functions like planning, decision-making, and attention control.

Key Terms

• Attention: Process of selecting one stimulus or thought for deeper processing while ignoring others.
• Vigilance: General level of alertness.
• Overt Attention: Attention that matches eye movement; you look where you focus.
• Covert Attention: Attention shifts without eye movement; mental focus elsewhere.
• Cocktail Party Effect: Ability to focus on one voice in a noisy room, but limited capacity.
• Inattentional Blindness: Missing obvious stimuli when attention is focused elsewhere.
• Spotlight: Metaphor for attention; only one main thing gets strong processing.
• Early Selection: Irrelevant information filtered early in processing.
• Late Selection: Information processed deeper before filtering.
• Voluntary Attention: Goal-directed, top-down attention controlled by intention.
• Reflexive Attention: Automatic, bottom-up attention capture by stimuli.
• Inhibition of Return: Slower to return attention to a previously attended spot.
• Feature Search: Visual search for a single feature; fast and automatic.
• Conjunction Search: Visual search for multiple features; slow and effortful.
• Binding Problem: How separate features (color, shape, motion) combine into one object.
• ERP (Event-Related Potentials): EEG-averaged responses measuring fast brain activity related to stimuli.
• N2pc: ERP component marking focus of attention on a spatial target.
• Dorsal Frontoparietal Network: Cortical network supporting voluntary, goal-directed attention.
• Right Temporoparietal Network: Cortical network supporting reflexive attention.
• Hemispatial Neglect: Disorder where one side of space is ignored, usually due to right hemisphere damage.
• Bálint's Syndrome: Disorder affecting eye movements, reaching, and object perception.
• ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; characterized by inattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity.
• Consciousness: Awareness of internal and external worlds.
• Default Mode Network (DMN): Brain network active during rest, daydreaming, and self-reflection.
• Qualia: Subjective, private conscious experiences (e.g., the feeling of 'red').
• Free Will: Belief in consciously choosing actions freely.
• Executive Function: High-level cognitive control system organizing thinking and behavior.
• Sunk Cost Fallacy: Continuing a behavior due to previously invested resources, even if irrational.
• Loss Aversion: Losses feel psychologically worse than equivalent gains feel good.

Timeline

• 1953: Dichotic Listening experiments by Colin Cherry highlight attention limits.
• 1985: Moran & Desimone study shows attention boosts neural firing.
• 1985: Libet's research suggests brain activity precedes conscious awareness of intention.
• Late 1990s: Simons & Chabris conduct 'Gorilla experiment' demonstrating inattentional blindness.
• 2008: Soon et al. fMRI study shows decision prediction up to 10 seconds before awareness.

People

• Colin Cherry: Pioneered dichotic listening studies on attention.
• Daniel Simons: Co-creator of the 'Gorilla experiment' on inattentional blindness.
• Christopher Chabris: Co-creator of the 'Gorilla experiment' on inattentional blindness.
• Michael Posner: Developed the Posner cueing task to study voluntary attention.
• Moran & Desimone: Researchers whose study provided single neuron evidence for attention's neural effects.
• Libet: Conducted experiments on the timing of conscious intention and brain activity.
• Soon et al.: Researchers using fMRI to predict decisions before conscious awareness.
• Phineas Gage: Historical case illustrating effects of frontal lobe damage on personality and behavior.

Quiz

• What is the primary difference between attention and vigilance?: Attention is selective; vigilance is general alertness.
• The 'Cocktail Party Effect' demonstrates that:: Attention is limited and focusing on one stream can cause loss of another.
• Which type of attention is controlled by goals and intention (top-down)?: Voluntary Attention
• Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice:: Unexpected stimuli when attention is focused elsewhere.
• Which brain network is primarily associated with voluntary attention?: Dorsal Frontoparietal Network