viVigilance tasks require great deal of attention for an extended period of time. (Helton & Warm 2008) People who take place in such tasks usually find themselves struggling to concentrate after a period of time, this leads to decrease of accuracy and speed of the task, also known as vigilance decrement. There have been previous researches that suggest studies that have been the introduction to vigilance decrement theory. During the years of World War 2, radar system were used to detect enemy’s means of transport (submarine) while being under water. (Caggiano & Parasuraman , 2004). The radar monitor was also used couple of years after the world war 2 on Royal Air Force, same results had occurred. (Helton & Warm 2008). It was concluded that there has been a decrease in performance, the longer someone spends staring at radar monitors, their level of vigilance drops significantly. (Caggiano & Parasuraman , 2004) There have been many more studies that were carried for people who work for Macworth, studies showed attention can only be sustain for a short period of time, the longer the period of time was for vigilance task the worse they performed. This has been said for both human beings and non-human beings. (Helton & warm 2008)
Such recent theories related to vigilance decrement suggest that the reasoning behind the vigilance decrement is related to the decrease of “processing resources”. The participants in this experiment was required continuous monitor of the radar screen for a long period. In this time the continuous groups had to either make “targets or neutral stimuli discrimination” with any form of rest or any form of other activity. Considering these things in mind it is suggested that the resource section probably w...
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...ipants in the group have been engaged in the same vigilance experiment for a long period of time, the repetition of the same experiment decreases their vigilance. The conclusion has been drawn after considering the findings in the studies discussed above, all the finding discussed in this report conclude the same thing.
Works Cited
Caggiano, D., & Parasuraman, R. (2004). The role of memory representation in the vigilance decrement. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 11(5), 932-937. Doi: 10.3758/BF03196724 (ref 1)
Helton, W.S., & Russell, P.N. (2012). Brief mental breaks and content-free cues may not keep you focused. Experimental Brain Research, 219(1), 37-46. Doi: 10.1007/s00221-012-3065-0
Helton, W.S., & Warm, J.S. (2008). Signal salience and the mindlessness theory of vigilance. Acta Psychologica, 129(1), 18-25. Doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.04.002
Marsh, R. L., Cook, G. I., & Hicks, J. L. (2006). The effect of context variability on source memory. Memory & Cognition (Pre-2011), 34(8), 1578-86.
It is often thought that humans can receive all the information that invades their senses, however, it is fact they are not able to process all of the received information. Humans must selectively choose what information to perceive and ignore irrelevant information. Two questions are raised, therefore: what allows us to selectively attend information and what happens to unattended information, is it proceeded to any extend or not proceeded at all? Recently, the phenomenon of negative-priming started to be used to study selective attention.
distraction during retrieval affects the quality, not the quantity, of eyewitness recall. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26(2), 296-300.
William James, the father of American Psychology was once accused of being absent minded, to which he replied he was just present minded to his own thoughts (Rebecca McMillian Ode to constructive day dreaming). Mind wandering is the experience in which an individual’s thoughts are unable to remain on a single idea, particularly this phenomenon is observed when people are engaged in a task which does not require a great deal of attention (Jennifer McVay, Michael Kane). It is believed that mind wandering mirrors temporary episodes during which ones thoughts compete with the task of processing external information into working memory (Smallwood, Going AWOL). The effects of mind wandering on the processing of external information, as well as the role post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may have in this, will be probed further during this review.
Weapon focus is the presence of a weapon affecting the reliability of an eyewitness when using her memory to remember the predators usually because of stress factors when the weapon is present. The individual is often paying more attention to the weapon than the face of the perpetrator and therefore definitely intervenes with their memory and remembering correctly the predator’s face. The method Lorraine Hope and Daniel Wright developed to test this theory was getting 45 college students, 21 males and 24 females. They were randomly chosen for different conditions. They would see a couple a pictures with numbers and had to press a certain key on the keyboard when an “odd number appeared” and at the same time pay attention to the surroundings in the slides. In the “weapon condition” there was a weapon that would appear and they would then measure response time. The other independent variable in this study was the “unusual condition” which was just a random object put into the slide. Last but not least, the “control condition” which was just a regular man’s leather wallet. The results of accuracy were as following; Weapon: 59%, Unusual: 70%, Control, 82%. These results show how often a gun focus can affect people’s concentration and accuracy when dealing with
Caramazza, A., & Coltheart, M. (2006). Cognitive Neuropsychology twenty years on. Cognitive Neuropsychology, Vol. 23, pp. 3-12.
Compared with iconic memory representations, VSTM representations are longer lasting, more abstract, and more durable. VSTM representations can survive eye movements, eye blinks, and other visual interruptions, and they may play an important role in maintaining continuity across these interruptions. VSTM is usually considered to be the visual storage component of the broader working memory system. VSTM is thought to be the visual component of the working memory system, and as such it is used as a buffer for temporary information storage during the process of naturally occurring tasks. The role of VSTM in bridging the sensory gaps caused by saccadic eye movements. These sudden shifts of gaze typically occur 2-4 times per second, and vision is briefly suppressed while the eyes are moving. Thus, the visual input consists of a series of spatially shifted snapshots of the overall scene, separated by brief gaps. Over time, a rich and detailed long-term memory representation is constructed from these brief glimpses of the input (Hollingworth, 2004), and VSTM is thought to bridge the gaps between these glimpses (Irwin, 1991) and to allow the relevant portions of one glimpse to be aligned with the relevant portions of the next glimpse (Currie, McConkie, Carlson-Radvansky, & Irwin, 2000; Henderson & Hollingworth,
Attentional blink occurs when there is “a brief slow-down in mental processing due to having processed another very recent event” (Ashcraft & Radvansky, 2009, p. 137). During this timeframe, allotting your attention to the first stimulus deprives you of the attention required for the next stimulus. The types of objects or targets presented can have an effect on the brain’s focus. Stimuli that one associates as emotionally charged can cause the brain to focus more. Less emotional stimuli can cause a forgetting response. The study of the attentional blank is important to consider for many reasons including which occupations could be adversely affected
When I was in the military, an important part of my job was to listen to radio communications and be aware of any other communication going on in the office. At first, this task was stressful but with time and practice my auditory attention was responding more efficiently. At that time I did not know that some researchers use a similar task called Dichotic Listening Task to conduct research and support their theories. In 1958, Donald Broadbent, an experimental psychologist, used Dichotic Listening Task and the results of his experiment led him to create the filter model of attention. Essentially, the task consists of presenting different stimuli to each ear. First, the participant’s task is to focus his attention to one ear, called the attended
Moments later you hear discussion about what to grab for lunch right outside the office door, after listening in for a few seconds you come back to find several questions about your thoughts on the pitch being thrown at you. Becoming distracted is common among everyone, exactly how much focus goes into the task at hand depends on the level and the information load of said task (Lavie, N. (2010).). According to the perceptual load theory, unallocated capacity to the specific stimuli will flow into task irrelevant stimuli (CITE). If the perceptual work load is high, then awareness to what needs to be done increases, while if the perceptual work load is low then there is room for distraction. In a study on perceptual load done by Nilli Lavie, subjects were asked to locate the name of either a pop star or a politician among a list of either 4 or 6 words while ignoring an irrelevant distractor, in this case a face to the left or right of the words. Results showed that an increase in reaction time occurred when the perceptual load increased, supporting the idea that a higher amount of perceptual load leads a higher demand on ones’ attention to the task (Lavie, N., Ro, T., & Russell, C.
There has been a long history of attention within psychology for the last century. According to Posner (1994), the researcher William James stated, "Everyone knows what attention is, it is the taking possession by the mind in clear and vivid form of one out of what seem several simultaneous objects or trains of thought." Research shows that the “brain stem reticular formation was a necessity to maintain the alert state provided some anatomical reality to the study of an aspect of attention.” These information-processing mechanisms started after World War II with studies of “selective listening.” Selective listening experiments “supported a view of attention that suggested early selection of relevant message, with nonselective information being lost to conscious processing” (p. 7398). The earliest research studies of attention involved “maintenance of the alert state” of consciousness and concentration. According to evidence, as the alertness increases, the speed of processing events improves. “The trade-off between improved speed and reduced accuracy with warning signals has led to a view that alerting does not act to improve the buildup of information concerning the nature of the target but, instead, acts on the attentional system to enhance the speed of actions taken toward the target” (p. 7402).
Wheeler, M. A., Stuss, D, t., & Tulving, D. (1997). Toward a theory of episodic memory: The frontal lobes and autonoetic consciousness: Psychological Bulletin, 121, 331-354
Attention is a deeper process than simply noticing incoming stimuli, it involves a number of processes including filtering perceptions, balancing multiple perceptions and attaching emotional significance to the perceptions (Ratey, 2001). There are two forms of attention, passive and active. Passive attention is the involuntary processes which are directed by the environment and external events e.g. a loud noise. Active attention is the voluntary process which is guided by alertness and concentration e.g. curiosity (Gaddes, 1994). It is a cognitive ability to select and focus on certain factors and the ability to inhibit an action while previewing alternative actions. This is also known as preattentive as the process happens without any conscious awareness (Neisser, 1967). An example of this would be during a conversation, if an individual’s name is mentioned their attention is instantly diverted. Active attention is described as a complex process that includes alertness and arousal, this allows for the planning and monitoring of thoughts and actions. Attention is often described as the first step in the learning process, this is because if something is not attended to then there is no ability to understand or learn it. There is much research into the conceptual framework for this including the process and what happens to students when breakdowns in this process occur (Levine, 1998). Attention is often linked with alertness as the basic mental tone, where each of these factors have a role. Alertness is a state of conscious awareness, which includes a spectrum of alertness through to unconsciousness. An individual’s level of consciousness will vary th...
8. A: It seems that the more we focus on objects and events around us the less we pay attention to something else. Going through several motorcycle courses, you quickly learn that attention and awareness are the two most needed attributes to have since most vehicles aren't looking for motorcycles. It's taught that riders should not to focus on looking for certain "things" but to constantly scan and observe abnormalities or different activities happening. Although this is a method to call your attention to other things is it truly a way means to fix the
The phenomenon of ‘Divided attention’ is the idea that an individual has the ability to divide their attention between two or more tasks (multi- tasking). Focused attention models such as Broadbent’s theory, Treisman’s theory and Deutsch and Deutsch model explains how all our inputs are focused on one task at a time, however it is clear from looking at everyday life that we are able to divide our attention, successfully being able to complete more than one task at the same time.