Question 1

Spelke,Hirst,and Neisser attempted to teach participants to simultaneously take dictation and read with comprehension.Their results suggests that ______.
A)no amount of practice can teach people to do two things at once without a drop in performance
B)people could eventually reach accurate performance on the dictation task,but reading comprehension still suffered
C)people could eventually reach accuracy in reading comprehension,but in doing so they sacrificed accuracy in dictation
D)after 6 weeks of practice,people could simultaneously take dictation accurately and read with normal comprehension

Accepted Answer

Spelke, Hirst, and Neisser's study found that after extensive practice (6 weeks), participants were able to simultaneously take dictation and read with comprehension effectively, demonstrating the human capacity for multitasking with practice.

Question 2

Mindful meditation's link to attention could best be described by ______.
A)its activation of the prefrontal cortex
B)the fact that everything is quiet
C)being nonjudgmental
D)increasing an individual's optimism

Accepted Answer

Mindful meditation is linked to attention through the activation of the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in attention regulation and cognitive control.

Question 3

A patient with right parietal hemineglect is asked to draw a five pointed star.You would most expect which part of the drawing to be missing?
A)the top point of the star
B)the right arm of the star
C)the left arm of the star
D)the bottom feet of the star

Accepted Answer

Patients with right parietal hemineglect tend to neglect the left side of their visual field, which would likely result in the omission of the left arm of the star in their drawing.

Question 4

Glancing out your window,you notice a woman in a blue coat walking with a child in a red coat.Later,you recall seeing a child in a blue coat.You have fallen victim to the phenomenon known as ______.
A)the Stroop effect
B)illusory conjunction
C)automatic processing
D)the bottleneck effect

Accepted Answer

Illusory conjunction refers to a phenomenon where features from multiple stimuli are mistakenly combined. In this case, the colors of the coats worn by the woman and the child were incorrectly combined in memory, leading to the false recollection of a child in a blue coat.

Question 5

What characterizes hemineglect?
A)Patients forget about one hemisphere of their brain.
B)Patients tend to ignore information processed through a damaged hemisphere.
C)Patients fail to use certain cognitive processes results in brain damage.
D)Patients can no longer identify spherical shapes.

Accepted Answer

Hemineglect, also known as unilateral neglect, is a condition where patients fail to attend to or respond to stimuli presented on the side opposite to their brain lesion. This typically occurs after damage to one hemisphere of the brain, leading patients to ignore information processed through or pertaining to the damaged hemisphere.

Question 6

Dividing your attention between two tasks is easiest when ______.
A)you are learning the tasks for the first time
B)the tasks are in the same modality
C)one task has been practiced previously
D)the tasks only engage one attention stream

Accepted Answer

Dividing attention between two tasks is easier when one of the tasks is already familiar or has been practiced, as this allows for more automatic processing of the practiced task, leaving more cognitive resources available for the new task. Tasks in the same modality or that engage only one attention stream can actually make dividing attention more difficult due to interference, and learning new tasks simultaneously typically requires more attention than when one is already known.

Question 7

Which of the following best explains why we refer to attention as a spotlight?
A)Attention cognitively illuminates everything within the visual field.
B)Attention cannot focus on more than one thing at a time.
C)Attention can only be used in one modality such as vision.
D)Attention is consciously controlled and can switch its target.

Accepted Answer

Attention is often compared to a spotlight because it is consciously controlled and can be directed to focus on specific stimuli or tasks, much like how a spotlight can be directed to illuminate a particular area.

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT true about distracted driving?
A)Having a passenger in the car results in less accident risk than driving alone.
B)About one in six fatal vehicle accidents involves distracted driving.
C)Most drivers who text only do so while at a stop sign or stop light.
D)Seventy percent of undergraduates report sending text messages while driving.

Accepted Answer

Most drivers who text do not limit this behavior to when they are at a stop sign or stop light; they often text while the vehicle is in motion, which significantly contributes to distracted driving and increases the risk of accidents.

Question 9

The phenomenon of attentional capture ______.
A)primarily depends upon the perceiver's goals
B)is driven almost entirely by the properties of the stimulus
C)can be overridden by top-down processes under certain circumstances
D)is driven by the stimulus but can be overridden by top-down processes

Accepted Answer

Attentional capture is influenced by the properties of the stimulus, but top-down processes (such as the perceiver's goals, expectations, or current focus of attention) can modulate or override this effect, allowing for selective attention despite potentially distracting stimuli.

Question 10

During an ERP task,a researcher notices that there were no large amplitude responses to several stimuli that participants listen to,even after 1000ms.What does this suggest about the amount of attention that was paid to the stimuli?
A)Participants paid attention to the stimuli.
B)Participants did not pay attention to the stimuli.
C)Nothing.The researcher needs to wait longer to observe the ERP.
D)Nothing.The researcher should look for low-amplitude responses.

Accepted Answer

The absence of large amplitude responses in an ERP task suggests that participants did not pay much attention to the stimuli. ERP amplitudes are often linked to the level of attention and cognitive processing devoted to a stimulus.

Question 11

ERP signals associated with attention should be visible by about ______ ms after stimulus presentation.
A)100
B)500
C)1000
D)5000

Accepted Answer

ERP signals associated with attention typically become visible around 100 ms after stimulus presentation. This early response reflects the brain's rapid processing of attention-relevant information.

Question 12

According to the attention hypothesis of automatization,attention ______.
A)is needed during the practice phase of a task
B)determines what gets learned during practice
C)determines what will be remembered from the practice
D)all of these

Accepted Answer

The attention hypothesis of automatization posits that attention plays a crucial role in learning and automatizing tasks. It is needed during the practice phase, determines what gets learned, and influences what will be remembered from the practice.

Question 13

Research suggests that talking on a cell phone while driving ______.
A)does not cause errors or slow reaction time
B)does not slow reaction time any more than does listening to the radio
C)causes significantly more errors and slows reaction time significantly more than listening to the radio.
D)does not impair driving as long as the driver is using a "hands-free" telephone

Accepted Answer

Research has consistently shown that talking on a cell phone while driving, whether hands-free or not, can significantly impair driving ability by causing more errors and slowing reaction time more than simply listening to the radio. This is due to the cognitive distraction that cell phone conversations introduce.

Question 14

Research on divided attention suggests that ______.
A)some people can multitask without any drop in performance
B)there are no limits on the number of things that we can successfully do at once
C)as individual tasks become more demanding,multitasking becomes more efficient
D)if you think that you are doing two things simultaneously,you are probably really rapidly switching attention back and forth between the two

Accepted Answer

Research on divided attention indicates that when we think we are multitasking, we are often just switching our attention quickly between tasks, rather than processing them simultaneously. This rapid switching can give the illusion of simultaneous processing, but in reality, our attention is divided.

Question 15

Which of the following provides the most likely explanation for the findings of Spelke,Hirst,and Neisser (in which participants learned to simultaneously take dictation and read with comprehension)?
A)Participants learned to alternate between the two tasks.
B)The reading task became automatic with practice.
C)The dictation task became automatic with practice.
D)Participants learned to combine the two specific tasks.

Accepted Answer

Participants learned to combine the two specific tasks, as the study demonstrated that with practice, individuals could integrate and manage both tasks simultaneously rather than alternating or making one task automatic.

Question 16

Certain stimuli seem to jump off the page at the viewer,causing an involuntary shift of attention that is referred to as ______.
A)the Stroop effect
B)attentional capture
C)attenuation
D)the cocktail party effect

Accepted Answer

Attentional capture is the phenomenon where certain stimuli demand our attention involuntarily, making them "jump off the page" at the viewer.

Question 17

If a participant attends to an auditory stimulus,you would expect their ERP results to show ______.
A)no electrical activity
B)lower amplitude activity than an unattended stimulus
C)higher amplitude activity than an unattended stimulus
D)the same activity as an unattended stimulus

Accepted Answer

Attending to an auditory stimulus typically results in higher amplitude activity in certain components of the event-related potential (ERP) compared to when the stimulus is unattended. This is because attention enhances neural processing of the attended stimuli.

Question 18

Neisser's schema theory of attention posits that we ______.
A)pay the most attention to things we expect
B)pay the most attention to things that are unexpected
C)attend to all objects and events unequally
D)have difficulty attending to things that are new

Accepted Answer

Neisser's schema theory suggests that we pay the most attention to things we expect because our cognitive schemas guide our attention to align with our expectations.

Question 19

An ERP taken while a participant is played auditory stimuli through headphones shows high amplitude signals in response to a stimulus played in the left ear channel.This suggests the stimulus was ______.
A)unattended to
B)not heard at all
C)able to be identified
D)attended to

Accepted Answer

High amplitude signals in ERP (Event-Related Potentials) typically indicate that a stimulus was attended to, as the brain shows a stronger response to stimuli that are the focus of attention.

Question 20

Driving simulator studies suggest that ______.
A)cell phone use increases the probability of missing a red light
B)cell phone use decreases reaction time to red lights
C)listening to the radio increases the probability of missing a red light
D)listening to the radio decreases reaction time to red lights

Accepted Answer

Cell phone use distracts drivers, increasing the likelihood of not noticing traffic signals, such as missing a red light.

Quiz 4: Attention: Deploying Cognitive Resources

Spelke,Hirst,and Neisser attempted to teach participants to simultaneously take dictation and read with comprehension.Their results suggests that ______.

Mindful meditation's link to attention could best be described by ______.

A patient with right parietal hemineglect is asked to draw a five pointed star.You would most expect which part of the drawing to be missing?

Glancing out your window,you notice a woman in a blue coat walking with a child in a red coat.Later,you recall seeing a child in a blue coat.You have fallen victim to the phenomenon known as ______.

What characterizes hemineglect?

Dividing your attention between two tasks is easiest when ______.

Which of the following best explains why we refer to attention as a spotlight?

Which of the following is NOT true about distracted driving?

The phenomenon of attentional capture ______.

During an ERP task,a researcher notices that there were no large amplitude responses to several stimuli that participants listen to,even after 1000ms.What does this suggest about the amount of attention that was paid to the stimuli?

ERP signals associated with attention should be visible by about ______ ms after stimulus presentation.

According to the attention hypothesis of automatization,attention ______.

Research suggests that talking on a cell phone while driving ______.

Research on divided attention suggests that ______.

Which of the following provides the most likely explanation for the findings of Spelke,Hirst,and Neisser (in which participants learned to simultaneously take dictation and read with comprehension) ?

Certain stimuli seem to jump off the page at the viewer,causing an involuntary shift of attention that is referred to as ______.

If a participant attends to an auditory stimulus,you would expect their ERP results to show ______.

Neisser's schema theory of attention posits that we ______.

An ERP taken while a participant is played auditory stimuli through headphones shows high amplitude signals in response to a stimulus played in the left ear channel.This suggests the stimulus was ______.

Driving simulator studies suggest that ______.