Corpus Callosum The two hemispheres communicate with one another through the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum is a wide, flat bundle of neural fibers beneath the cortex that connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and facilitates inter-hemispheric communication. The corpus callosum is sometimes implicated in the cause of seizures; patients with epilepsy sometimes undergo a corpus callosotomy, or the removal of the corpus callosum. The Lobes of the Brain The brain is separated into four lobes: the frontal, temporal, occipital, and parietal lobes. Fig 3.6.: Lobes of the brain Lobes of the brain: The brain is divided into four lobes, each of which is associated with different types of mental processes. Clockwise from left: The frontal lobe is in blue at the front, the parietal lobe in yellow at the top, the occipital lobe in red at the back, and the temporal lobe in green on the bottom. The Frontal Lobe The frontal lobe is associated with executive functions and motor performance. Executive functions are some of the highest-order cognitive processes that humans have. Examples include: • Planning and engaging in goal-directed behavior; • Recognizing future consequences of current actions; • Choosing between good and bad actions; • Overriding and suppressing socially unacceptable responses; • Determining similarities and differences between objects or situations. 48 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The frontal lobe is considered to be the moral center of the brain because it is responsible for advanced decision-making processes. It also plays an important role in retaining emotional memories derived from the limbic system, and modifying those emotions to fit socially accepted norms. The Temporal Lobe The temporal lobe is associated with the retention of short- and long-term memories. It processes sensory input including auditory information, language comprehension, and naming. It also creates emotional responses and controls biological drives such as aggression and sexuality. The temporal lobe contains the hippocampus, which is the memory center of the brain. The hippocampus plays a key role in the formation of emotion-laden, long-term memories based on emotional input from the amygdala. The left temporal lobe holds the primary auditory cortex, which is important for processing the semantics of speech. One specific portion of the temporal lobe, Wernicke’s area, plays a key role in speech comprehension. Another portion, Broca’s area, underlies the ability to produce (rather than understand) speech. Patients with damage to Wernicke’s area can speak clearly but the words make no sense, while patients with damage to Broca’s area will fail to form words properly and speech will be halting and slurred. These disorders are known as Wernicke’s and Broca’s aphasia respectively; an aphasia is an inability to speak. Fig 3.7.: Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas: The locations of Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas in the brain. The Broca’s area is at the back of the frontal lobe, and the Wernicke’s area is roughly where the temporal lobe and parietal lobe meet. The Occipital Lobe The occipital lobe contains most of the visual cortex and is the visual processing center of the brain. Cells on the posterior side of the occipital lobe are arranged as a spatial map of the retinal field. The visual cortex receives raw sensory information through sensors in the retina of the eyes, which is then conveyed through the optic tracts to the visual cortex. Other areas 49 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
of the occipital lobe are specialized for different visual tasks, such as visuospatial processing, color discrimination, and motion perception. Damage to the primary visual cortex (located on the surface of the posterior occipital lobe) can cause blindness, due to the holes in the visual map on the surface of the cortex caused by the lesions. The Parietal Lobe The parietal lobe is associated with sensory skills. It integrates different types of sensory information and is particularly useful in spatial processing and navigation. The parietal lobe plays an important role in integrating sensory information from various parts of the body, understanding numbers and their relations, and manipulating objects. It’s also processes information related to the sense of touch. The parietal lobe is comprised of the somatosensory cortex and part of the visual system. The somatosensory cortex consists of a “map” of the body that processes sensory information from specific areas of the body. Several portions of the parietal lobe are important to language and visuospatial processing; the left parietal lobe is involved in symbolic functions in language and mathematics, while the right parietal lobe is specialized to process images and interpretation of maps (i.e., spatial relationships). THE SPINAL CORD It can be said that the spinal cord is what connects the brain to the outside world. Because of it, the brain can act. The spinal cord is like a relay station, but a very smart one. It not only routes messages to and from the brain, but it also has its own system of automatic processes, called reflexes. The top of the spinal cord merges with the brain stem, where the basic processes of life are controlled, such as breathing and digestion. In the opposite direction, the spinal cord ends just below the ribs—contrary to what we might expect, it does not extend all the way to the base of the spine. The spinal cord is functionally organized in 30 segments, corresponding with the vertebrae. Each segment is connected to a specific part of the body through the peripheral nervous system. Nerves branch out from the spine at each vertebra. Sensory nerves bring messages in; motor nerves send messages out to the muscles and organs. Messages travel to and from the brain through every segment. Some sensory messages are immediately acted on by the spinal cord, without any input from the brain. Withdrawal from heat and knee jerk are two examples. When a sensory message meets certain parameters, the spinal cord initiates an automatic reflex. The signal passes from the sensory nerve to a simple processing center, which initiates a motor command. Seconds are saved, because messages don’t have to go the brain, be processed, and get sent back. In matters of survival, the spinal reflexes allow the body to react extraordinarily fast. 50 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The spinal cord is protected by bony vertebrae and cushioned in cerebrospinal fluid, but injuries still occur. When the spinal cord is damaged in a particular segment, all lower segments are cut off from the brain, causing paralysis. Therefore, the lower on the spine damage is, the fewer functions an injured individual loses. The spinal cord is a tail-like structure embedded in the vertebral canal of the spine. The adult spinal cord is about 40 cm long and weighs approximately 30 g. The spinal cord is attached to the underside of the medulla oblongata, and is organized to serve four distinct tasks: 1. To Convey (Mainly Sensory) Information To The Brain; 2. To Carry Information Generated In The Brain To Peripheral Targets Like Skeletal Muscles; 3. To Control Nearby Organs Via The Autonomic Nervous System; 4. To Enable Sensorimotor Functions To Control Posture And Other Fundamental Movements. The spinal cord connects the brain and brain stem to all of the major nerves in the body. Spinal nerves originate from the spinal cord and control the functions of the rest of the body. Impulses are sent from receptors through the spinal cord to the brain, where they are processed and synthesized into instructions for the rest of the body. This data is then sent back through the spinal cord to muscles and glands for motor output. SUMMARY • The brain’s lower-level structures are the oldest in the brain, and are more geared towards basic bodily processes than the higher-level structures. Except for the spinal cord, the brain’s lower-level structures are largely located within the hindbrain, diencephalon (or interbrain), and midbrain. • The hindbrain consists of the medulla oblongata, the pons, and the cerebellum, which control respiration and movement among other functions. The midbrain is interposed between the hindbrain and the forebrain. Its ventral areas are dedicated to motor function while the dorsal regions are involved in sensory information circuits. • The thalamus and hypothalamus are located within the diencephalon (or “interbrain”), and are part of the limbic system. They regulate emotions and motivated behaviours like sexuality and hunger. The spinal cord is a tail-like structure embedded in the vertebral canal of the spine, and is involved in transporting sensorimotor information and controlling nearby organs. • The cerebral cortex, the largest part of the brain, is the ultimate control and information- processing centre in the brain. The cerebral cortex is responsible for many higher-order brain functions such as sensation, perception, memory, association, thought, and 51 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
voluntary physical action. The cerebrum is the large, main part of the brain and serves as the thought and control centre. • The left hemisphere is dominant with regard to language and logical processing, while the right hemisphere handles spatial perception. The brain is separated into the frontal, temporal, occipital, and parietal lobes. The frontal lobe is associated with executive functions and motor performance. The temporal lobe is associated with the retention of short- and centre long-term memories. It processes sensory input, including auditory information, language comprehension, and naming. The occipital lobe is the visual- processing centre of the brain. The parietal lobe is associated with sensory skills. • The limbic system, located just beneath the cerebrum on both sides of the thalamus, is not only responsible for our emotional lives but also many higher mental functions, such as learning and formation of memories. The primary structures within the limbic system include the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, and cingulate gyrus. • The amygdala is the emotion centre of the brain, while the hippocampus plays an essential role in the formation of new memories about past experiences. The thalamus and hypothalamus are associated with changes in emotional reactivity. • The cingulate gyrus coordinates smell and sights with pleasant memories, induce an emotional reaction to pain, and helps regulate aggressive behaviour. The basal ganglia are a group of nuclei lying deep in the subcortical white matter of the frontal lobes; its functions include organizing motor behaviour and coordinating rule-based, habitlearning. KEY WORDS/ ABBREVIATIONS • cognitive neuroscience- The study of how mental processes occur in the central nervous system, focusing on relationships between mental functions and the physiological functioning of neurons, which is an integration of the fields of neuroscience and cognitive psychology. LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. Write in detail about the different parts of the human brain and its functions? 2. Write in detail about the four lobe of the brain. 52 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT END QUESTIONS (MCQS AND DESCRIPTIVE) A. Descriptive Questions 1. Elaborate and explain the concept of cognitive neuroscience. 2. Cognitive Neuroscience is a relatively new field of study. Elaborate this statement. 3. Our brain is divided into two halves which are also called hemispheres. Explain the structure and the specific functions of each of these hemispheres. 4. Brain is an important organ. It is also a group of organs with specific functions. What are some of the important parts of the brain and explain their functions. 5. Spinal cord is an important part of the central nervous system. Explain the significance of the spinal cord. B. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) 1. In which lobe of the cerebral cortex, the primary olfactory cortex lies? (a) Frontal (b) Parietal (c) Temporal (d) Occipital 2. The role of brain, body chemical, centralnervous system, neural mechanism, etc.,are considered the branch ofpsychology. (a)Cognitive psychology (b)Positive psychology (c) Neuropsychology (d) Evolutionary Psychology 3. The lobe is to vision as temporal lobe is to hearing. (a) Frontal (b) Parietal (c) Temporal (d) Occipital 53 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
4. Reflexes are controlled by _ (a)Hypothalamus (b) Spinal Cord (c) Temporal Lobe (d)Medulla 5. A part of the brain that sends ‘alert’ to the higher centres of the brain in response to incoming message is (a) Hypothalamus (b)Reticular Formation (c)Limbic System (d)Medulla Answer 1 (c) 2 (c) 3 (d) 4 (b) 5 (d) REFERENCES • Kellogg, R. T. (2003). Cognitive Psychology (2nd ed.). California, USA.: Sage Publications • Neisser, U. (2014). Cognitive Psychology (Classic ed.). New York: Psychology Press • Eysenck, M. W. and Keane, M. T. (2015) Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Handbook (7th ed.). New York: PsychologyPress • Galotti, K.M. (2008), Cognitive Psychology: In and out of the Laboratory.Delhi: Thomson. • Sternberg, R. J. & Sternberg, K. (2012). Cognitive psychology (6th ed.).USA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. • Groome, D. (2014). An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology: Processes and Disorders. (3rd ed.). New York: PsychologyPress. • Mazur, J.E. (1986), Learning and Behaviors. (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NewJersey: Prentice Hall. • Galotti, K.M. (1999), Cognitive Psychology: In and Outside Laboratory. Mumbai: Thomson Asia. • Neisser, U. (1976). Cognition and Reality: Principles and Implications of Cognitive Psychology. New York: W. H. Freeman • Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). Mem Cogn 47, 561–574 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-019-00896-7 54 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Shallice, T. & Warrington, E. K. (1970) Independent functioning of verbal memory stores: A neuropsychological study, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 22:2, 261-273, DOI: 10.1080/00335557043000203 55 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 4 ATTENTION Structure Learning Objectives Introduction Meaning and Definition of Attention Types of Attention Theories of Attention Concept of Selective Attention Theories of Selective Attention Concept of Divided Attention Theories of Divided Attention Neural Basis Of Attention Summary Key Words/ Abbreviations Learning Activity Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) References LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able to, • Explain the concept of attention • Describe the different types of attention • Explain the concepts of selective and divided attention • Outline the theories of selective attention divided attention • Describe the neural (physiological) basis of attention INTRODUCTION When you walk through a busy street, many stimuli bombard your sense organs, but you can take in and use only a very small number of stimuli. For example, several people cry cross each other wearing assorted colour dresses, cars and buses pass through on the nearby road, shops and buildings also attract your attention. However, only a small and selected part of the available stimulation is registered by an individual for processing and the rest is filtered out. This process of selectively responding to a stimulus or range of stimuli is called attention. Thus, attention refers to all those processes by which we perceive selectively. 56 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
You have read in the lesson “Becoming aware of the world around us” that we have ten senses which provide us information about the external and internal world, but some central regulatory mechanism allows selective pick up of the information. Have you ever thought that the dish antenna on the roof of your home can pick up all the signals that are available there, but the tuner in the television-set selects only the signal that you want to view, others are filtered out? Similarly, from many stimuli that are available in the external world, attentional processes limit the reception of stimuli selectively. Thus, attentional processes serve the tuner function in filtering information selectively for further processing that finally leads to perception. MEANING AND DEFINITION OF ATTENTION Attention is the term used or given to the perceptual processes that select certain inputs for inclusion in our conscious experience, or awareness at any given time. It is the process involving the act of listening, and concentrating on a topic, object or event for the attainment of desired ends. “Attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one object other than upon another”— Dumville. “Attention is the process of getting an object or thought clearly before the mind”—Ross. “Attention is being keenly alive to some specific factors in our environment. It is a preparatory adjushort term memoryent for response”—Morgan. Thus, attention is essentially process and not a product. It helps in our awareness or consciousness of our environment, which is of selective kind, because in a given time, we can concentrate or focus our consciousness on an object only. The concentration provided by the process of attention helps us in the clarity of the perception of the perceived object or phenomenon. Thus, attention is not merely a cognitive factor but is essentially determined by emotions, interest, attitude and memory. Thus, attention is a process which is carried out through cognitive abilities and helped by emotional and behavioural factors to select something out of the various stimuli present in one’s environment and bring it in the centre of one’s consciousness to perceive it clearly for deriving the desired end. TYPES OF ATTENTION 1. Selective attention Have you ever been at a loud concert or a busy restaurant, and you are trying to listen to the person you are with? While it can be hard to hear every word, you can usually pick up most of the conversation if you're trying hard enough. This is because you are choosing to focus on 57 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
this one person's voice, as opposed to say, the people speaking around you. Selective attention takes place when we block out certain features of our environment and focus on one feature, like the conversation you are having with your friend. Selective attention is the ability to select from the numerous factors or stimuli that are present and to focus on only the one that you want. Every day, you are constantly exposed to several environmental factors or stimuli, but your brain naturally responds by selecting an aspect or factor to focus on. Selective attention basically allows you to be able to “select” what you want to pay attention to. You may need to use selective attention when attending a loud party and you are focusing on one person’s voice, or if you are trying to study in a noisy room. When employing selective attention, you can avoid distractions from both external (e.g. noise) and internal (e.g. thoughts) influences. If you are good at selective attention, you are good at ignoring distractions. You can maintain a specified level of performance in the presence of distracting stimuli. 2. Divided attention Do you ever do two things at once? If you're like most people, you do that a lot. Maybe you talk to a friend on the phone while you're straightening up the house. Nowadays, there are people everywhere texting on their phones while they're spending time with someone. When we are paying attention to two things at once, we are using divided attention. Divided attention is the ability to process two or more responses or react to two or more different demands simultaneously. It is often referred to as multi-tasking. Basically, dividing your attention between two or more tasks. Examples of divided attention include checking email while listening in a meeting, talking with friends while making dinner, or talking on the phone while getting dressed. Unlike alternating attention, when you are using divided attention, you do not change from one task to another completely different task. Instead, you attempt to perform them at the same time. So, you are really splitting your attention, instead of alternating it. Therefore, you are only really focusing part of attention on each task. 3. Sustained attention Are you someone who can work at one task for a long time? If you are, you are good at using sustained attention. This happens when we can concentrate on a task, event, or feature in our environment for a prolonged period. Think about people you have watched who spend a lot of time working on a project, like painting or even listening intently to another share their story. Sustained attention is also commonly referred to as one's attention span. It takes place when we can continually focus on one thing happening, rather than losing focus and having to keep bringing it back. People can get better at sustained attention as they practice it. 58 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Sustained attention is the ability to focus on one specific task for a continuous amount of time without being distracted. Sustained attention is probably what you think of when you hear the words “attention”, “focus”, “concentration”, or “vigilance.” You use sustained attention when you continuously maintain focus on one task or concentrate on an activity for a prolonged period without getting distracted. Examples of sustained attention may include listening to lecture, reading a book, playing a video, or fixing a car. It can be challenging to maintain this type of attention for a significant amount of time without becoming distracted. Therefore, your level of sustained attention will often vary. You may be intensely focused one minute and then your attention may begin to lapse. However, a key aspect of sustained attention is the ability to re-focus on the task after a distractionarises. 4. Alternating Attention Alternating attention is the ability of mental flexibility that allows you to shift your focus of attention and move between tasks having different cognitive requirements. It is alternating your attention back and forth between two different tasks that require the use of different areas your brain. You probably use alternating attention almost all the time. You constantly need to make sudden changes on your activities or actions which requires your attention to shift. You may use alternating attention when reading a recipe (learning) and then performing the tasks of recipe (doing). It could also be alternating between unrelated tasks such as cooking while helping your child with her homework. 5. Executive attention Do you feel able to focus intently enough to create goals and monitor your progress? If you are inclined to do these things, you are displaying executive attention. Executive attention is particularly good at blocking out unimportant features of the environment and attending to what really matters. It is the attention we use when we are making steps toward an end. For example, maybe you need to finish a research project by the end of the day. You might start by planning, or you might jump into it and attack various parts of it as they come. You keep track of what you've done, what more you must do, and how you are progressing. You are focusing on these things to reach the goal of a finished research paper. That is using your executive attention. THEORIES OF ATTENTION Bottleneck Theory The bottleneck theory suggests that individuals have a limited amount of attentional resources that they can use at one time. Therefore, information and stimuli are 'filtered' somehow so that only the most salient and valuable information is perceived. This theory was proposed by Broadbent in 1958. Picture a large bottle filled with sand that is turned upside down. 59 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The bottleneck restricts the flow of sand so that it slowly pours out instead of coming out all at once. Stimuli in our environment is the same way - if we perceived every visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile sense all at once all the time our brains would be overflowing. I bet you didn't notice the feeling of the chair (or ground or bed, wherever you are) on your back until you read this sentence. Now you can feel it because you are actively thinking of it. So, there is a suggestion there is a mechanism of sorts that limits the amount of information we pay attention to. How does the bottleneck work? What is filtered out? Broadbent proposed early selection - that physical characteristics of messages are used to select one message for further processing and all others are lost. In 1963, Deutsch & Deutsch proposed that all messages get through, but that only one response can be made which was coined late selection. Then in 1964 Treisman proposed attenuation which suggests that physical characteristics are used to select one message for full processing and other messages are given partial processing. Research suggests that attenuation is most likely the most influential theory as to the filtering process of the bottleneck. Schneider and Shiffrin Controlled and Automatic Human Information Processing Schneider and Shiffrin define selective attention as \"control of information processing so that a sensory input is perceived or remembered better in one situation than another\". The concept of selective attention is predicated on the assumption that attention resources are limited. That is, \"It is because processing capacity is overloaded in numerous situations that a subset of information arriving must be given special attention\". Two types of selective attention deficits are distinguished. First, divided-attention deficits occur when the subject must allocate attention resources to additional inputs. Attempting to follow two conversations at once illustrates this deficit. Second, focused-attention deficits occur when the subject is distracted by irrelevant inputs, even though attention is directed to an input. Attempting to listen to a conversation without distraction from other conversations illustrates this deficit. 60 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Figure 4.1.: All or none and Attenuation Model Treisman's Attenuation Model Treisman (1964) aggress with Broadbent’s theory of an early bottleneck filter. However, the difference is that Treisman's filter attenuates rather than eliminates the unattended material. Attenuation is like turning down the volume so that if you have 4 sources of sound in one room (TV, radio, people talking, baby crying) you can turn down or attenuate 3 to attend to the fourth. This means that people can still process the meaning of attended message(s). In her experiments, Treisman demonstrated that participants were still able to identify the contents of an unattended message, indicating that they were able to process the meaning of both the attended and unattended messages. Treisman carried out dichotic listening tasks using the speech shadowing method. Typically, in this method participants are asked to simultaneously repeat aloud speech played into one ear (called the attended ear) whilst another message is spoken to the other ear. 61 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Figure 4.2.: Attenuation Model For example, participants asked to shadow \"I saw the girl furniture over\" and ignore \"me that bird green jumping fee\", reported hearing \"I saw the girl jumping over\" Clearly, then, the unattended message was being processed for meaning and Broadbent's Filter Model, where the filter extracted based on physical characteristics only, could not explain these findings. The evidence suggests that Broadbent's Filter Model is not adequate, it does not allow for meaning being considered. THE CONCEPT OF SELECTIVE ATTENTION Suppose you are at a dinner party. It is just your luck that you are sitting next to a salesman. He sells 110 brands of vacuum cleaners. He describes to you in excruciating detail the relative merits of each brand. As you are listening to this blathered, who happens to be on your right, you become aware of the conversation of the two diners sitting on your left. Their exchange is much more interesting. It contains juicy information you had not known about one of your acquaintances. You find yourself trying to keep up the semblance of a conversation with the blabbermouth on your right, but you are also tuning in to the dialogue on your left. Selective Attention refers to the capacity for or process of reacting to certain stimuli selectively when several occur simultaneously. Selective attention is the process of focusing on a particular object in the environment for a certain period of time. Attention is a limited resource, so selective attention allows us to tune out unimportant details and focus on what matters. Selective Visual Attention There are two major models describing how visual attention works. 62 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• The \"spotlight\" model works much like it sounds—it proposes that visual attention works similar to that of a spotlight. Psychologist William James suggested that this spotlight includes a focal point in which things are viewed clearly. The area surrounding this focal point, known as the fringe, is still visible, but not clearly seen. Finally, the area outside of the fringe area of the spotlight is known as the margin. • The second approach is known as the \"zoom-lens\" model. While it contains all the same elements of the spotlight model, it also suggests that we are able to increase or decrease the size of our focus much like the zoom lens of a camera. However, a larger focus area also results in slower-processing since it includes more information so the limited attentional resources must be distributed over a larger area. Selective Auditory Attention Some of the best-known experiments on auditory attention are those performed by psychologist Colin Cherry. Cherry investigated how people are able to track certain conversations while tuning others out, a phenomenon he referred to as the \"cocktail party\" effect. In these experiments, two auditory messages were presented simultaneously with one presented to each ear. Cherry then asked participants to pay attention to a particular message, and then repeat back what they had heard. He discovered that the participants were able to easily pay attention to one message and repeat it, but when they were asked about the contents of the other message, they were unable to say anything about it. Cherry found that when contents of the unattended message were suddenly switched (such as changing from English to German mid-message or suddenly playing backward) very few of the participants even noticed. Colin Cherry (1953) referred to this phenomenon as the cocktail party problem, the process of tracking one conversation in the face of the distraction of other conversations. He observed that cocktail parties are often settings in which selective attention is salient. Cherry did not actually hang out at numerous cocktail parties to study conversations. He studied selective attention in a more carefully controlled experimental setting. He devised a task known as shadowing. In shadowing, you listen to two different messages. Cherry presented a separate message to each ear, known as dichotic presentation. You are required to repeat back only one of the messages as soon as possible after you hear it. In other words, you are to follow one message (think of a detective “shadowing” a suspect) but ignore the other. Interestingly, if the speaker of the unattended message switched from male to female (or vice versa) or if the message was swapped with a 400-Hz tone, the participants always noticed the change. Cherry's findings have been demonstrated in additional experiments. Other researchers have obtained similar results with messages including lists of words and musical melodies. 63 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
THEORIES OF SELECTIVE ATTENTION The theories described here belong to the group of filter and bottleneck theories. A filter blocks some of the information going through and thereby selects only a part of the total of information to pass through to the next stage. A bottleneck slows down information passing through. The models differ in two ways. First, do they have a distinct “filter” for incoming information? Second, if they do, where in the processing of information does the filter occur (early or late)? Broadbent’s Model According to one of the earliest theories of attention, we filter information right after we notice it at the sensory level (Broadbent, 1958). Multiple channels of sensory input reach an attentional filter. Those channels can be distinguished by their characteristics like loudness, pitch, or accent. The filter permits only one channel of sensory information to proceed and reach the processes of perception. We thereby assign meaning to our sensations. Other stimuli will be filtered out at the sensory level and may never reach the level of perception. Broadbent’s theory was supported by Colin Cherry’s findings that sensory information sometimes may be noticed by an unattended ear if it does not have to be processed elaborately (e.g., you may notice that the voice in your unattended ear switches to a tone). But information requiring higher perceptual processes is not noticed if not attended to (e.g., you would likely not notice that the language in your unattended ear switches from English to German). Figure4.3.: Broadbent and Treisman’s Models of Attention. 63 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Selective Filter Model Not long after Broadbent’s theory, evidence began to suggest that Broadbent’s model must be wrong. Moray found that even when participants ignore most other high-level (e.g., semantic) aspects of an unattended message, they frequently still recognize their names in an unattended ear. He suggested that the reason for this effect is that messages that are of high importance to a person may break through the filter of selective attention. But other messages may not. To modify Broadbent’s metaphor, one could say that, according to Moray, the selective filter blocks out most information at the sensory level. But some personally important messages are so powerful that they burst through the filtering mechanism. Feature Integration Theory Feature Integration Theory is a perceptual and attentional theory that explains how an individual combines pieces of observable information about an object in order to form a complete perception of the object. This theory was developed by Gelade and Treisman and focuses on the visual search component of stimuli perception. During a visual search a person uses cues like colour, shape, and size to distinguish objects from one another. There are two stages that comprise this theory. • The first is the pre-attention stage in which the individual focuses on one distinguishing attribute of the object. The pre-attention phase is an automatic process which happens unconsciously. The second stage is focused attention in which an individual takes all of the observed features and combines them to make a complete perception. • This second stage process occurs if the object doesn't stand out immediately. For example, if you were looking for a penny in a handful of quarters it would be easy to spot and only require pre-attention focus. If you were looking for a nickel in a handful of quarters it would be more difficult to spot because of the same colour and similar size- focused attention would be required to spot the nickel. Attenuation Model To explore why some unattended messages, pass through the filter, Anne Treisman conducted some experiments. She had participants shadowing coherent messages, and at some point, switched the remainder of the coherent message from the attended to the unattended ear. Participants picked up the first few words of the message they had been shadowing in the unattended ear (Treisman, 1960), so they must have been somehow processing the content of the unattended message. Moreover, if the unattended message was identical to the attended one, all participants noticed it. They noticed even if one of the messages was slightly out of temporal synchronization with the other (Treisman, 1964a, 64 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
1964b). Treisman also observed that some fluently bilingual participants noticed the identity of messages if the unattended message was a translated version of the attended one. Moray’s modification of Broadbent’s filtering mechanism was clearly not sufficient to explain Treisman’s findings. Her findings suggested that at least some information about unattended signals is being analysed. Treisman proposed a theory of selective attention that involves a later filtering mechanism. Instead of blocking stimuli out, the filter merely weakens (attenuates) the strength of stimuli other than the target stimulus. So, when the stimuli reach us, we analyse them at a low level for target properties like loudness andpitch. You may listen for the voice of the person you are talking to in a noisy bar, for example. If the stimuli possess those target properties, we pass the signal on to the next stage; if they do not possess those target properties, we pass on a weakened version of the stimulus. In a next step, we perceptually analyse the meaning of the stimuli and their relevance to us, so that even a message from the unattended ear that is supposedly irrelevant can come into consciousness and influence our subsequent actions if it has some meaning for us. Late-Filter Model Deutsch and Deutsch developed a model in which the location of the filter is even later. They suggested that stimuli are filtered out only after they have been analysed for both their physical properties and their meaning. This later filtering would allow people to recognize information entering the unattended ear. For example, they might recognize the sound of their own names or a translation of attended input (for bilinguals). Note that proponents of both the early and the late-filtering mechanisms propose that there is an attentional bottleneck through which only a sole source of information can pass. The two models differ only in terms of where they hypothesize the bottleneck to be positioned. Figure 4.4.: Deutsch & Deutsch’s Late-Filter Model. A Synthesis of Early-Filter and Late-Filter Models Both early and late selection theories have data to support them. So, what is a researcher to do? In 1967, Ulric Neisser synthesized the 65 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
early-filter and the late-filter models and proposed that there are two processes governing attention: • Pre-attentive processes: These automatic processes are rapid and occur in parallel. They can be used to notice only physical sensory characteristics of the unattended message. But they do not discern meaning or relationships. • Attentive, controlled processes: These processes occur later. They are executed serially and consume time and attentional resources, such as working memory. They also can be used to observe relationships among features. They serve to synthesize fragments into a mental representation of an object. CONCEPT OF DIVIDED ATTENTION Have you ever been driving with a friend and the two of you were engaged in an exciting conversation? Or have made dinner while on the phone with a friend? Anytime you are engaged in two or more tasks at the same time, your attention is divided between those tasks. Early work in divided attention had participants view a videotape in which the display of a basketball game was superimposed on the display of a hand slapping game. Participants could successfully monitor one activity and ignore the other. However, they had great difficulty in monitoring both activities at once, even if the basketball game was viewed by one eye and the hand-slapping game was watched separately by the other eye. Divided attention is a higher-level skill where you have to perform two (or more) tasks at the same time, and attention is required for the performance of both (or all) the tasks. Examples include driving a car while carrying on a conversation with a passenger, or eating dinner while watching the news. Neisser and Becklen hypothesized that improvements in performance eventually would have occurred because of practice. They also hypothesized that the performance of multiple tasks was based on skill resulting from practice. They believed it not to be based on special cognitive mechanisms. The following year, investigators used a dual-task paradigm to study divided attention during the simultaneous performance of two activities: reading short stories and writing down dictated words. The researchers would compare the response time (latency) and accuracy of performance in each of the three conditions. Of course, higher latencies mean slower responses. As expected, initial performance was quite poor for the two tasks when the tasks had to be performed at the same time. However, Spelke and her colleagues had their participants practice performing these two tasks 5 days a week for many weeks (85 sessions in all). To the surprise of many, given enough practice, the participants’ performance improved on both tasks. They showed improvements in their speed of reading and accuracy of reading comprehension, as measured 66 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
by comprehension tests. They also showed increases in their recognition memory for words they had written during dictation. Eventually, participants’ performance on both tasks reached the same levels that the participants previously had shown for each task alone. An entirely different approach to studying divided attention has focused on extremely simple tasks that require speedy responses. When people try to perform two overlapping speeded tasks, the responses for one or both tasks are almost always slower (Pashler, 1994). When a second task begins soon after the first task has started, speed of performance usually suffers. The slowing resulting from simultaneous engagement in speeded tasks, as mentioned earlier in the chapter, is the PRP (psychological refractory period) effect, also called attentional blink. Findings from PRP studies indicate that people can accommodate easily perceptual processing of the physical properties of sensory stimuli while engaged in a second speeded task (Miller et al., 2009; Pashler, 1994). However, they cannot readily accomplish more than one cognitive task requiring them to choose a response, retrieve information from memory, or engage in various other cognitive operations. When both tasks require performance of any of these cognitive operations, one or both tasks will show the PRP effect. THEORIES OF DIVIDED ATTENTION To understand our ability to divide our attention, researchers have developed capacity models of attention. These models help to explain how we can perform more than one attention- demanding task at a time. They posit that people have a fixed amount of attention that they can choose to allocate according to what the task requires. There are two various kinds: One kind of model suggests that there is one single pool of attentional resources that can be divided freely, and the other model suggests that there are multiple sources of attention (McDowd, 2007). Figure 4.5.: Allocation of Attentional Resources It now appears that such a model represents an oversimplification. People are much better at dividing their attention when competing tasks are in different modalities. At least some 67 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
attentional resources may be specific to the modality (e.g., verbal or visual) in which a task is presented. For example, most people easily can listen to music and concentrate on writing simultaneously. But it is harder to listen to the news station and concentrate on writing at the same time. The reason is that both are verbal tasks. The words from the news interfere with the words you are thinking about. Similarly, two visual tasks are more likely to interfere with each other than are a visual task coupled with an auditory one. Attentional-resources theory has been criticized severely as overly broad and vague (e.g., Navon, 1984; S. Yantis, personal communication, December 1994). Indeed, it may not stand alone in explaining all aspects of attention, but it complements filter theories quite well. Filter and bottleneck theories of attention seem to be more suitable metaphors for competing tasks that appear to be attentionally incompatible, like selective-attention tasks or simple divided- attention tasks. Consider the psychological refractory period (PRP) effect, for example. To obtain this effect, participants are asked to respond to stimuli once they appear, and if a second stimulus follows a first one immediately, the second response is delayed. For these kinds of tasks, it appears that processes requiring attention must be handled sequentially, as if passing one-by-one through an attentional bottleneck. Resource theory seems to be a better metaphor for explaining phenomena of divided attention on complex tasks. In these tasks, practice effects may be observed. According to this metaphor, as each of the complex tasks becomes increasingly automatized, performance of each task makes fewer demands on limited-capacity attentional resources. Additionally, for explaining search related phenomena, theories specific to visual search (e.g., models proposing guided search or similarity) seem to have stronger explanatory power than do filter or resource theories. However, these two kinds of theories are not altogether incompatible. Although the findings from research on visual search do not conflict with filter or resource theories, the task-specific theories more specifically describe the processes at work during visual search. NEURAL BASIS OF ATTENTION The human brain contains more than 10 billion neurons and more than 10 trillion synapses, making up networks and sub-networks of unimaginable complexity. These vast numbers seem as if they should be quite sufficient to support the performance of nearly any function the brain should be called upon to do—but this is apparently not the case. Evolution has supplied us with a brain in which each neuron can serve multiple functions, depending on what task is required at each moment. That is to say, neurons (and thus neural networks, and the brain as a whole) are subject to contextual modulation of their function. Selective attention is an unsurpassed example of contextual neural modulation. Selective modulation of neural activity is made necessary by the hierarchical organization of the 68 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
primate visual system. Neurons in the primary visual cortex (area V1) have small receptive fields (that is, they monitor a small patch of the retinal image) and are tuned to relatively simple visual features (e.g., edge orientation). Neurons at later levels (e.g., area V4) have larger receptive fields that are tuned to relatively more complex features (e.g., combinations of shape and color). The representation of an object is distributed over this network: Local metric details are represented in early areas, global properties in later areas. Selective attention is required when the visual system is confronted with typically cluttered natural scenes. Neurons at later levels are likely to have multiple stimuli in their receptive fields, some of which would effectively drive the neuron if they were presented in isolation and others that would not. Not all of these stimuli can be represented simultaneously. Selective attention provides a means to specify what will be represented and what will not. Figure 4.6.:Some of the regions in the human brain that are known to be modulated by attention (red) and regions that are thought to be sources of attentional control signals (blue). MT = middle temporal area; V1–V4 = primary and extra striate visual areas. It is important to keep in mind that the distinction between cortical sources and targets of attentional modulation is often far from clear-cut. Neurons in the earliest levels of the visual system (e.g., the lateral geniculate nucleus or LGN) are driven principally by properties of the visual scene and the retinal image, whereas neurons in the prefrontal and parietal cortex are more likely to be driven by behavioural goals and the reward value or meaning of stimuli in 69 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
relation to those goals. Nevertheless, there is evidence for attentional modulation as early as the LGN (O'Connor, Fukui, Pinsk, & Kastner, 2002), and stimulus properties can influence neural responses in the parietal and prefrontal cortex. It is unlikely that a strict dichotomy between purely sensory neurons and purely goal-related neurons can be maintained, complicating any analysis of the control and effects of attention. Behavioral studies of selective attention tend to precede investigations of its neurophysiological underpinnings. For example, behavioral studies of spatial attention began in the 1960s and 70s and continued through the 80s and 90s; neuroscientific studies of spatial attention followed some time later. Behavioral studies of object-based attention began in the 1980s and continued into the 90s; neurophysiological investigations began in the late 1990s. Despite this typical pattern, certain kinds of questions appear to be addressable only through neuroscientific studies. For example, a deep understanding of why certain combinations of features can be detected efficiently in visual search while others cannot will, it seems to me, require a better understanding of how working memory representations of search targets are transformed into modulatory feedback signals that target sensory brain regions. Both behavioral and neuroscientific studies will be part of a complete framework for understanding selective attention. \"When you communicate with others, you can make yourself better heard by speaking louder or by speaking more clearly. Neurons appear to do similar things when we're paying attention. They send their message more intensely to their partners, which compares to speaking louder. But more importantly, they also increase the fidelity of their message, which compares to speaking more clearly.\" Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that the brain appears to be capable of synchronizing activity in different regions of the brain, allowing a person to concentrate on a task. The researchers liken the process to using a walkie-talkie—areas of the brain essentially \"tune to the same frequency\" in order to create a clear line of communication. \"We think the brain not only puts regions that facilitate attention on alert but also makes sure those regions have open lines for calling each other,\" explained researcher Amy Daitch. The study involved directly scanning certain brain regions in epilepsy patients as they watched visual targets. The participants were asked to detect targets on a screen without moving their eyes and to then press a button to indicate that they had seen the target. What the researchers found was that as the participants directed their attention to a target, certain regions of the brain important for attention adjusted their excitability cycles so that the cycles matched up. Areas not associated with attention showed no such changes in excitability. 70 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The authors suggested that when areas of the brain involved in stimulus detection are at a high level of excitability, people are much more likely to notice a stimulus. Conversely, when excitability levels are low in these regions, the likelihood of a signal being detected is much lower. SUMMARY 1. Attention is defined as the act of concentrating and keeping one's mind focused on something. A student seriously focusing on her teacher's lecture is an example of someone in a state of attention. 2. Attention is the behavioural and cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a discrete stimulus while ignoring other perceivable stimuli. 3. Attention is the cognitive process that makes it possible to position ourselves towards relevant stimuli and consequently respond to it. This cognitive ability is very important and is an essential function in our daily lives. 4. It is a major area of investigation within education, psychology, and neuroscience. Attention can be thought of as the allocation of limited processing resources: your brain can only devote attention to a limited number of stimuli. 5. Attention comes into play in many psychological topics, including memory (stimuli that are more attended to are better remembered), vision, and cognitive load. 6. Bottleneck Theory, Schneider and Shiffrin Controlled and Automatic Human Information Processing and Treisman's Attenuation Model are the theories of attention. 7. Selective attention is the process of directing our awareness to relevant stimuli while ignoring irrelevant stimuli in the environment. 8. Broadbent’s Model, Selective Filter Model, Feature Integration Theory, Feature Integration Theory, Attenuation Model and Late Filter Model are the theories of Selective Attention. 9. Divided attention could be defined as our brain's ability to attend to two different stimuli at the same time, and respond to the multiple demands. 10. Multitasking can be defined as the attempt to perform two or more tasks simultaneously; however, research shows that when multitasking, people make more mistakes or perform their tasks more slowly. 11. Each task increases cognitive load; attention must be divided among all of the component tasks to perform them. 71 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
KEY WORDS/ ABBREVIATIONS Attention: Selective concentration on a discrete stimulus while ignoring other perceivable stimuli. Alternating attention Alternating attention is the ability of mental flexibility that allows you to shift your focus of attention and move between tasks having different cognitive requirements. Divided Attention Divided attention is the ability to process two or more responses or react to two or more different demands simultaneously. Executive Attention Executive attention is particularly good at blocking out unimportant features of the environment and attending to what really matters. Selective Attention Selective Attention refers to the capacity for or process of reacting to certain stimuli selectively when several occur simultaneously. Sustained attention Sustained attention is the ability to focus on one specific task for a continuous amount of time without being distracted. LERNING ACTIVITY 1. Explain the theories of attention 2. Explain the theories of selective attention 72 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
3. Explain the theories of divided attention UNIT END QUESTIONS (MCQS AND DESCRIPTIVE) A. Descriptive Questions 1. Attention refers to selectively focusing on a particular stimulus. Elaborate on the given statement. 2. Elaborate on the model of attention given by Broadbent and Treisman 3. Attention is of several different types. Enlist and describe the different types of attention with appropriate examples. 4. Explain the Treisman's Attenuation Model of Attention. 5. Explain the Broadbent’s Model of Selective Attention. B. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) 1. Selective attention in vision and auditory respectively have been dubbed as (a) optic and haptic (b) spotlight and gateway (c) spatial and acoustic (d) central and peripheral 2. Who has proposed the Attenuation Model of Attention? (a) Shiffrin (b) Schneider (c) Triesmann (d) Broadbent 3. refers to the capacity for or process of reacting to certain stimuli selectively when several occur simultaneously. (a) Attention (b) Sustained Attention (c) Divided Attention (d) Selective Attention 73 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
4. The model of selective attention given by Deutsch and Deutsch is called (a) Late filter (b) Attenuation (c) Divided attention (d) Broadbent’ Model 5. is the ability to process two or more responses or react to two or more different demands simultaneously (a) Attention (b) Sustained Attention (c) Divided Attention (d) Selective Attention 1. (b); 2 (c); 3 (d); 4(a); 5 (c) REFERENCES • Kellogg, R. T. (2003). Cognitive Psychology (2nd ed.). California, USA.: Sage Publications • Neisser, U. (2014). Cognitive Psychology (Classic ed.). New York: Psychology Press • Eysenck, M. W. and Keane, M. T. (2015) Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Handbook (7th ed.). New York: PsychologyPress • Galotti, K.M. (2008), Cognitive Psychology: In and out of the Laboratory.Delhi: Thomson. • Sternberg, R. J. & Sternberg, K. (2012). Cognitive psychology (6th ed.).USA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. • Groome, D. (2014). An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology: Processes and Disorders. (3rd ed.). New York: PsychologyPress. • Mazur, J.E. (1986), Learning and Behaviors. (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NewJersey: Prentice Hall. 74 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Galotti, K.M. (1999), Cognitive Psychology: In and Outside Laboratory. Mumbai: Thomson Asia. • Treisman, A., (1964). Selective attention in man. British Medical Bulletin, 20, 12-16. • Cherry, E. C. (1953). Some Experiments on the Recognition of Speech, with One and with Two Ears. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 25, 975; https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1907229 • Treisman, A. M. (1960) Contextual cues in selective listening, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12:4, 242-248, DOI: 10.1080/17470216008416732 • Broadbent (1958): Still no identification without attention. Psychological Review, 111(4), 880–913. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.111.4.880 • McDowd, J.M. (2007) An Overview of Attention Behavior and Brain. Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy, 31, 98-103. • O'Connor, D., Fukui, M., Pinsk, M. et al. Attention modulates responses in the human lateral geniculate nucleus. Nat Neurosci 5, 1203–1209 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn957 • Miller. et. al. (2009). In with the old, in with the new: capabilities, strategies, and performance among the Hollywood studios. Strategic Management Journal 30(13). https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.789 75 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 5 IMAGERY Structure 5.0 Learning Objectives Introduction Mental Imagery Definition of Mental Imagery Imagery Guided Imagery Interactive Guided Imagery Significance of Imagery Practical Aspect of Imagery The Benefits of Imagery Imagery in Everyday Life Music & Imagery Young People & Imagery Summary Key Words/ Abbreviations Learning Activity Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) References LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able to, • Explain the concept of mental imagery • Evaluate the significance of mental imagery • Describe the concept of cognitive maps • Outline the practical application of mental imagery • Identify thebenefits of mental imagery INTRODUCTION Mental images are created by the brain from memories, imagination, or a combination of both. In the 1990s, scientists were gaining knowledge of how the brain forms thesevisual pictures without input from the eyes. According to researchers at Harvard University, the brain may generate these mental pictures in the area of the brain responsible for vision. Stephen Kosslyn, a psychologist, used positron emission tomography (PET) technologyto examine the flow of blood in the brains of twelve men. The men were asked to close their eyes and imagine total darkness. Subsequently, they were asked to imagine a series of 76 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
different items. The tests seem to indicate that the primary visual cortex, the area of the brain that interprets vision, was activated when creating the imagined images. Bill and Bob were good friends for many years who met while starting out as entry-level employees at a large corporation. They both developed an interest in golf and would play together regularly. Over the years, Bob seemed to enjoy more frequent promotions than Bill and his golf handicap improved faster than Bill’s, too. When Bill asked Bob to what he attributed his success, Bob answered with one word, “visualization.” Not everyone can picture scenes and events in their minds as clearly as photographs, but we all possess the ability to conjure up images with varying degrees of clarity. For example, if someone asks you how many windows are in your house, you will probably be able to form a picture of your house in your mind’s eye and count them. Almost everyone has heard about the power of positive thinking, but the power of positive imaging is even greater. In most cases, before you are capable of actually doing something, you first need to be able to picture yourself doing it. In fact, it is known that Albert Einstein himself said “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” The famous children's book \"The Little Engine That Could\" emphasized teaching children the value of optimism and hard work. It's signature phrase \"I think I can, I think I can\" taught millions of children the importance of positive thinking and perseverance. But just as it is said a picture is worth 1000 words, sometimes a very clear, attainable and well-rehearsed image can be worth dozens of optimistic statements and self-affirmations. Hence, in addition to rational, language-based thinking (i.e., self-talk, cognition, or “left- brain” thinking), richly visualizing specific scenarios (often called “right-brain” thinking) can greatly facilitate successful outcomes. Thus, “I see myself, I see myself...” or vividly imagining succeeding, or adaptively coping with certain adverse events, seems to aid in success even more than well practiced positive statements (like “I think I can, I think I can”). Suppose you want to ask your boss for a raise. Can you visualize approaching him or her and asking for more money? Can you actually see yourself doing so? If your answer is “No,” if you say “I can’t imagine myself doing that,” it is pretty obvious that you’ll probably avoid the actual encounter and probably remain at your present salary. Alternatively, if you can picture that scene, if you can see yourself calmly but assertively stating your case as to why you believe you deserve a higher wage, chances are that you will take action. MENTAL IMAGERY Many famous athletes choreograph their moves in imagery before going into action. For example, champion skiers imagine themselves negotiating almost every inch of a slope, 77 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
champion tennis players picture themselves executing successful shots, and ballerinas and gymnasts will practice their moves as much in imagination as in actual rehearsal. What this is getting at is very simple but extremely effective. That is, if you really wish to succeed at something, picture yourself doing it successfully over and over again. Obviously, this refers to visualizing success that lies within your reach. You will not succeed in doing the impossible no matter how much imagery you practice. One of the most powerful visualization methods is called coping imagery. Picture yourself coping with difficult events. See yourself managing, perhaps struggling or battling, but nevertheless getting through it – attainingsuccess. Another powerful visualization exercise is called goalimagery. First, vividly picture a goal and then imagine yourself taking the specific steps necessary to attain it. For example, if you want to lose some weight, imagine yourself at your ideal weight. Then picture yourself doing what is necessary to achieve that goal (e.g., exercising more, passing on desserts, eating more salads and fewer snacks, etc.). These visualization exercises done repeatedly can enhance the likelihood of actual success in many situations. What I’m recommending, in effect, is structured daydreaming. Try it out and see what a difference it can make. DEFINITION OF MENTAL IMAGERY Mental imagery can be defined as pictures in the mind or a visual representation in the absence of environmental input. This is not a universal talent; not everybody can conjure up mental images at will. Sir Francis Galton discovered this in 1883 when he asked 100 people, including prominent scientists, to form an image of their breakfast table from that morning. Some had detailed images, others reported none at all. According to psychologists, mental imagery is a product of mental activity. When this product presents high levels of creativity and originality, it is usually referred to as “fantasy” or “imagination.” On the other side, when this mental product concerns mainly the recall and/or production of events or objects that are very close to their actual perception, than we use properly the term of “mental imagery.” We can use the term both if an actual sensorial stimulation is present or not. Mental imagery can be hence intended as a phenomenon which is specifically determined by its relationship with sensorial characteristics that it can elicit, and that can easily be described referring to its structure and content. Adopting this perspective, mental imagery can be seen 78 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
as a form for representing reality. Consequently, most psychological research has investigated it as a cognitive phenomenon that involves different levels... Imagery is a flow of thoughts you can see, hear, feel, smell, or taste. Throughout this program, you will see these three terms: imagery; guided imagery; and Interactive Guided ImagerySM. It’s important to recognize the differences between the three: Imagery Imagery is a natural, yet special, way of thinking that involves our senses. Images are thoughts you can see, hear, smell, taste or feel, and include memories, dreams and daydreams, plans and visions, and fantasies. Imagery is a type of thinking that has particularly strong effects on our emotions (imagine the face of someone you love and notice the feelings that come with the image), and our physiology (close your eyes and imagine sucking on a really sour lemon). Guided Imagery Guided imagery describes a process where you are asked to focus on images selected to help you achieve certain goals. Common applications include relaxation, relieving pain and other physical symptoms, reducing distress from surgery and other medical procedures, increasing creativity, enhancing confidence, stimulating healing responses in the body, and enhancing memory and learning. Interactive Guided Imagery Interactive Guided Imagery is a specific way of using imagery with particular applications in mind/body medicine. It is particularly effective in helping you to discover and improve your relationship to your health, to discover what role you can play in your recovery, and in helping you to use your resources most effectively. In this form of imagery, a trained guide helps you discover and work with your personal imagery about your illness and your healing, clarify any issues that may be involved, and learn to use your mind to support your own healing. SIGNIFICANCE OF IMAGERY The imagination, as it is used in imagery, is not sufficiently valued in our culture. The imaginary is equated with the fanciful, the unreal, and the impractical. In school we are taught the three R’s while creativity, uniqueness, and interpersonal skills are either barely tolerated or frankly discouraged. As adults, we are usually paid to perform tasks, not to think creatively. The premium is on the practical, the useful, the real, as it should be — but imagination should be recognized as a valuable component of human thought. 79 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Without imagination, humanity would be long extinct. It took imagination — the ability to conceive of new possibilities — to make fire, create weapons, and cultivate crops; to construct buildings, invent cars, airplanes, space shuttles, television, and computers. Paradoxically, our collective imagination, which has allowed us to overcome so many natural threats, has been instrumental in creating the major survival problems we face on earth today — pollution, exhaustion of natural resources, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. Yet imagination, teamed with will, remains our best hope for overcoming these same problems. The information you will find in this program will focus primarily on simple ways of using imagery for relaxation, stress reduction, and emotional wellness. COGNITIVE MAPS Cognitive Mapping is a cognitive process where individuals are able to mentally represent their surroundings. That representation can include the exact specifics of a location and the general area of a location. Cognitive maps are a small part of a person's spatial cognition. Cognitive maps are very reliant on rotations, the dimensions that we give each location and on orientations. Cognitive mapping is a skill that is regularly used by our cognitive process. However, cognitive mapping abilities have also been found in animals. In the 1940's, psychologist Edward Tolman began research on rats to determine if we remembered places and their features on a trial by error process. He found that the rats became more familiar with his course as they ran through it more, which was evidenced by the fact that the rats were finishing the course faster. This verified that the rats had to have come up with a mental representation of the course because, otherwise, they should have taken a similar amount of time to finish the course (regardless of the amount of times the course had been run through). It has been found through research that cognitive mapping does not suffer if the conditions around the map that has been mentally represented have changed. For example, the rats in Tolman's experiments could still find their way through the course, even if the maze was filled with water. Cognitive mapping is a vital skill for many living organisms and it is the reason we do not get lost in places we have been in before. Early, important studies of mental imagery came from Roger Shepard of Stanford University and various colleagues. He used computer-generated block shapes similar to these: 80 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Figure 5.1.: One shape is different from the others. Three of the shapes are the same as each other, only rotated. The fourth is different; it is a mirror image of the others. Can you find the one that is a mirror image? To determine this, most subjects must mentally rotate the figures, much as they would rotate a three-dimensional block model, to see if each matches the others. Following up on the first experiments with mental rotation, Cooper and Shepard (1973) found that the time required for mental rotations depended upon the amount of rotation. This was a very important finding, because it implied that mental images could be manipulated as if real. Mental Maps and Images Steven Kosslyn of Harvard is famous for studies of mental imagery. Kosslyn found that the size of an imagined image influenced how quickly subjects could move around the image in memory. If subjects memorized a map, the time it took them to make a mental jump from one location to another depended upon the distance on the imagined map. 81 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
In one experiment, Kosslyn (1975) asked subjects to imagine animals standing next to one another, such as a rabbit next to an elephant or a rabbit next to a fly. Then subjects were asked questions such as, \"Does the rabbit have two front paws?\" Figure 5.2.: Imagery used to understand the size of the objects When asked to imagined a rabbit next to a fly, people were quick to answer questions about the rabbit's appearance. They were slower when first asked to imagine it next to an elephant. People took longer to answer such questions when the rabbit was imagined next to an elephant. In that condition, the rabbit's image was small. When the rabbit was imagined next to a fly, its imagined image was large. Then subjects were quick to answer questions about the image. Kosslyn concluded that visual imagination produces \"little models, which we can manipulate much like we do actual objects.\" Researchers have identified two types of mental imagery. One is for pictures (for example, visualizing the rabbit next to the fly), and one for spatial representation (for example, rotating shapes in imagination). Kosslyn's work focused on imagined pictures. Shepard and colleagues focused on imagined rotation of shapes in space. The two involve different brain areas, and the two skills can be doubly dissociated by brain injury (you can lose one but not the other). The ability to imagine pictures can be lost after damage to the back of the brain, near the occipital lobe. The ability to imagine space is lost after damage to the middle of the right hemisphere, near the parietal lobe. Memory Mostly for Meaning 82 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Although mental imagery can be vivid and detailed, most people have rather poor memory for the details of a picture. We remember mostly the meaning of a picture, not details. Baggett (1975) showed that detailed picture memory fades over several days. She showed subjects a short cartoon in one of two versions. One she called the explicit version. It showed a longhaired person getting haircut. The other she called the implicit version. It showed no actual hair cutting. However, it did show a person walking out of a barbershop with shorter hair. After showing one or the other version to her subjects, Baggett waited various lengths of time. Then she asked subjects whether a test picture, showing hair actually being cut, appeared in the original sequence. 83 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Figure 5.3.: The implicit version (left) did not show hair being cut. For up to three days, subjects who received the implicit version knew they had not seen the test picture. However, after three days, they were likely to believe they had seen the hair being cut, even though they had not. In summary, it appears that most people can generate mental images and manipulate them like little models, as Kosslyn put it. However, mental images are mostly lost after a few days. Then we use inference to help re-construct images based on remembered knowledge. 84 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
THE BENEFITS OF IMAGERY Imagery is a way of using our imagination, and it has countless potential benefits. The problem is that without learning how to use our imagination skillfully, most of us use it to worry ourselves silly! In a way, worry is probably the most common use of the imagination — the repetitive focusing on images and thoughts of trouble, problems, disasters waiting to happen. Imagery is an important component of relaxation and meditation exercises, things that will help bring a deeper mindfulness into your life. Imagery exercises can help a person cope with stress in their life in a healthy, positive manner, while giving a person the chance to relax and spend some time with themselves. 1. Having a choice in how you feel. Learning to relax builds confidence in your ability to control your body, your feelings, and your thoughts. You become aware of having more choice in how you react and how you feel. People are often pleasantly surprised to learn that they actually have a lot more control over their negative thoughts than they realized. Choosing how you think, how you process things around you, and how all of that makes you feel is an important benefit of mindfulness and imagery exercises. 2. Positive Worry All of us worry at one time or another: It’s natural, and sometimes worrying even allows us to solve problems by examining the situation over and over. But some of us worry habitually, and that creates a condition of chronic stress. If you are a worrier, you can break that habit and replace it with a new habit we might call “positive worry” — taking time to focus your imagination on thoughts and things that create calm, peacefulness, relaxation and a sense of security. This shift in focus allows your body and mind to refresh themselves and lets you use your coping and problem-solving abilities better. 3. Enhanced creativity and problem-solving ability. Relaxation interrupts habitual negative thought patterns, clears your mind, and opens it to new ideas, new possibilities, and new ways of solving old problems. It allows you to draw on your intuition and creativity to help you move in the direction you want to go. Most people don’t realize the wealth of creative energy they have within themselves, since it is not called on regularly in their everyday world. Imagery and mindfulness exercises remind us of the complexity and resiliency of the human spirit. 4. Relaxation sets the stage for skillful imaging. 85 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Deep relaxation provides a state of mind (and mindfulness) in which more advanced and specific imagery techniques are most effective. The ability to quiet your mind and concentrate your attention will enable you to make the best use of the more advanced techniques. You can do a lot with mindfulness, relaxation and imagery exercises. These benefits will hopefully give you the incentive to learn more and practice these exercises on a daily basis. The first skill to learn with imagery is using it to relax — we describe how to do that and even offer you audio clips you can listen to. Regular interruption of chronic stress with relaxing mental “mini-vacations” can sustain your energy, your positive mood and your ability to cope with challenges. Beyond relaxation, imagery can be used to stimulate our creativity and help us reach new solutions to difficult problems. One technique is to imagine having a conversation with a wise and helpful figure and see what it has to tell you about an area of concern. IMAGERY IN EVERYDAY LIFE imagery is undoubtedly already a part of your everyday life. If you ever worry about the future, reminisce about the past, have sexual fantasies, or make plans, you use imagery whether you know it or not — you represent these things in some way to yourself internally — and that’s imagery! The question really is: How can you use imagery purposefully to attain the peacefulness, enjoyment, and fulfillment you desire? The answer is to learn more about your imagination — how it works, and how to use it to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Start with the materials here and experiment and practice. Learning to use your imagination well is like learning to do most things in life — it takes practice. Audio aids are a great help to guide you through a variety of imagery experiences for various purposes — whether relaxation, peace of mind, setting goals, planning, or dealing with illness or life crisis. If you are in a hurry, dealing with a difficult situation, or want to learn in the most efficient way, consult with a psychotherapist who can help make sure you master the process in the least time. As with learning anything else, good coaching helps. Once you familiarize yourself with using imagery, you may want to experiment with the best way to use it in the course of your day. Many people set aside about 20 minutes, one or two times a day, to formally relax and focus on using imagery to support their chosen goal, whether it be relaxation, healing, problem-solving, or imagery rehearsal of a plan. Others focus on it before falling asleep, or first thing in the morning. Others simply use their imagery as a type of affirmation, thinking of it briefly but frequently throughout the day, especially when they need the qualities it evokes in them. You can combine these methods, or move between them — like any other set of tools, imagery can be used for many purposes and in 86 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
many ways. Your opportunity is to learn how to use this marvelous faculty and then adapt it to your own purposes and goals. Music & Imagery Music and imagery are intimately connected and music can be a potent force for stimulating imagery. Some popular imagery tapes have music backgrounds to make it easier to drift into a relaxed state of mind, while others don’t, in order to focus on teaching you how to relax and use imagery wherever you are. Of course, different music tends to evoke different threads of imagery — a war-like march will affect you differently than will a dreamy waltz, and rock and roll will induce different images than jazz does. Many relaxation and imagery tapes use tonal, non-melodic music to induce relaxation and may also include natural sounds like the ocean or a gentle rain to enhance that effect. Some of the best studies come from Steven Halpern, a pioneer in the use of music for relaxation and healing. Of course, if you don’t like the ocean or the rain, it may have an opposite effect from the one intended — picking background sounds or music that is relaxing, stimulating, healing, or inspiring to you is really the key. Music therapists use music selectively to evoke emotional states from clients, and there is a very well-developed form of imagery therapy called Guided Imagery and Music, developed by Helen Bonny, which can be quite powerful in therapeutic work. In this form of work, the therapist elects music likely to provoke the kinds of emotions the client needs to work through, and then invites them to close their eyes and go on an imagery journey, watching their own imagery. At the end of the session, the client is invited to draw their images, and to discuss what they experienced or learned. While no verbal suggestions are made by the therapist, the music selected is a powerful suggestion of an emotional direction, and so the therapist must be highly skilled and know the client well. Young People & Imagery Young people such as teens and children naturally spend a great deal of time in their imaginations, and imagery is a natural way for them to think. As we begin to explore the world as infants, we explore it with our senses, and then we turn those sensory impressions into internal representations of how the world is — those representations are stored in the form of sensory-based thoughts — also called “images.” Young people process information very quickly and do not need induction periods of relaxation and quieting their mind to engage in imagery. Much of the time, we work with children’s imagery in a conversational way — “can you imagine being in a very beautiful, happy place? What does it look like? (Let them answer.) What sounds do you hear there? What does it smell like? What would you like to do there?” Or, for a scared child, “Imagine you have a powerful superhero protecting you — who is it? How do they protect you? Do they need any more help to make sure you are safe? Can you imagine they get all the help they need to make sure you are safe? Do you feel safer with them here?” 87 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Children of school age can learn simple imagery techniques such as visualizing spelling words to improve their memories, learn to use imagery to improve their skill levels at learning, sports, and even learning to handle themselves well in class. We also use imagery with children in medicine to help them tolerate difficult procedures, to relax, to relieve pain, and to work though emotional difficulties. Older children and teenagers can learn more structured skills for the same purposes (especially sports, performances, public speaking, and memory enhancement) and for helping them develop better social skills (talking to that cute guy or girl can be very stressful!) People of all ages benefit from using images in their daily lives and for specific goals. SUMMARY 1. Imagery is a cognitive process fundamental to motor learning and performance. When we consciously internally represent an action through imagery, the same brain areas involved in the unconscious planning and execution of movements are activated. 2. The 5 different types of imagery correspond with the five senses: visual, olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch), and auditory (sound). 3. Many have argued that it is one of the primary human mental events that allow us to remember, plan for the future, navigate, and make decisions. In addition, mental imagery plays a core role in many mental health disorders and plays an increasingly important role in their treatment. 4. Imagery is a natural, yet special, way of thinking that involves our senses. Images are thoughts you can see, hear, smell, taste or feel, and include memories, dreams and daydreams, plans and visions, and fantasies. 5. Imagery can be used to develop qualities in yourself you’d like to have — it’s like emotional body-building — and using a technique called “Evocative Imagery” you can cultivate courage, patience, tolerance, humor, concentration, self-confidence or any other quality you’d like to embody. 6. We use the term 'mental imagery' is used to refer to representations and the accompanying experience of sensory information without the presence of a direct external stimulus. 7. Imagery can also be used to stimulate our immune systems, to increase or decrease blood flow to areas of the body, and thus to influence healing. 8. In addition, mental imagery plays an important role in the treatment of several mental health disorders. 88 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
9. Whether it’s for relaxation, problem-solving, healing, or self-development, learning to use your imagination skillfully can be one of the best investment short term memoryyou’ll ever make with your time. 10. Cognitive maps are the umbrella term for all visual representations of mental models. 11. For example, when a friend asks you for directions to your house, you are able to create an image in your mind of the roads, places to turn, landmarks, etc., along the way to your house from your friend's starting point. This representation is the cognitive map. 12. In an experiment done by Edward C. Tolman, the development of a mental map was seen in rats. A rat was placed in a cross shaped maze and allowed to explore it. After this initial exploration, the rat was placed at one arm of the cross and food was placed at the next arm to the immediate right. KEY WORDS/ ABBREVIATIONS • Imagery-1. The process of creating internal experiences of sensory and particularly of visual perception. 2. The content of creative writing likely to or intended to evoke internal perceptions. LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. What are some of the practical aspects of Imagery? 2. Explain the different ways in which imagery is used in day to day life? UNIT END QUESTIONS (MCQS AND DESCRIPTIVE) A. Descriptive Questions 1. Human beings can form images of objects and events even without them being present in the physical form. Identify and explain this phenomenon. 2. People can be instructed to create and use mental images. These processes are called guided imagery and interactive guided imagery. Elaborate these concepts with the help of appropriate examples. 3. Mental imagery can be used in our day to day. Enlist some of the instances when you have used mental imagery. 89 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
4. Identify the cognitive process used to represent our surrounding. Explain the process of cognitive mapping in detail. 5. Mental imagery helps us in a variety of cognitive processes. Identify and describe some of the benefits of imagery with suitable examples. B. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) 1. is the process of creating internal experiencesof sensory and particularly of visualperception. (a) Guided Imagery (b) Imagery (c) Mental Imagery (d) Interactive Guided Imagery 2. can be defined as pictures in the mind or a visual representation in the absence of environmental input. (a) Guided Imagery (b) Imagery (c) Mental Imagery (d) Interactive Guided Imagery 3. describes a process where you are asked to focus on images selected to help you achieve certain goals (a) Guided Imagery (b) Imagery (c) Mental Imagery (d) Interactive Guided Imagery 4. is a specific way of using imagery with particular applications in mind/body medicine. (a) Guided Imagery (b) Imagery (c) Mental Imagery 90 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
(d) Interactive Guided Imagery 5. is not a type of Imagery (a) Guided Imagery (b) Imagery (c) Mental Imagery (d) Day dreaming Answer 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (a) 4 (d) 5 (d) REFERENCES • Kellogg, R. T. (2003). Cognitive Psychology (2nd ed.). California, USA.: Sage Publications • Neisser, U. (2014). Cognitive Psychology (Classic ed.). New York: Psychology Press • Eysenck, M. W. and Keane, M. T. (2015) Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Handbook (7th ed.). New York: PsychologyPress • Galotti, K.M. (2008), Cognitive Psychology: In and out of the Laboratory.Delhi: Thomson. • Sternberg, R. J. & Sternberg, K. (2012). Cognitive psychology (6th ed.).USA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. • Groome, D. (2014). An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology: Processes and Disorders. (3rd ed.). New York: PsychologyPress. • Mazur, J.E. (1986), Learning and Behaviors. (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NewJersey: Prentice Hall. • Galotti, K.M. (1999), Cognitive Psychology: In and Outside Laboratory. Mumbai: Thomson Asia.ane • Cooper, L. A., & Shepard, R. N. (1973). Chronometric studies of the rotation of mental images. In W. G. Chase, Visual information processing. Academic. 91 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 6 MEMORY Structure 6.0 Learning Objectives Introduction Metaphor and Definition of Memory Types of Memory Sensory Memory Short-Term (Working) Memory Long-term memory Declarative (Explicit) & Procedural (Implicit) Memory Episodic & Semantic Memory Retrospective & Prospective Memory Models of Memory The Traditional Model of Memory The Levels-of-Processing Model An Integrative Model: Working Memory Mnemonics and Memory Cues Summary Key Words/ Abbreviations Learning Activity Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) References LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able to, • Explain the concept of memory • Describe the different types of memory • Outline the various models of memory • Explain the concept and application of mnemonics INTRODUCTION All of us are aware of the tricks that memory plays on us throughout our lives. Have you ever felt embarrassed because you could not remember the name of a known person you were talking to? Or anxious and helpless because everything you memorized well the previous day before taking your examination has suddenly become unavailable? Or felt excited because you can now flawlessly recite lines of a famous poem you had learnt as a child? Memory indeed is a very fascinating yet intriguing human faculty. It functions to preserve our sense of 92 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
who we are, maintains our interpersonal relationships and helps us in solving problems and taking decisions. Since memory is central to almost all cognitive processes such as perception, thinking and problem solving, psychologists have attempted to understand the way any information is committed to memory, the mechanisms through which it is retained over a period, the reasons why it is lost from memory, and the techniques which can lead to memory improvement. In this chapter, we shall examine all these aspects of memory and understand various theories which explain the mechanisms of memory. The history of psychological research on memory spans over hundred years. The first systematic exploration of memory is credited to Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist of late nineteenth century (1885). He carried out many experiments on himself and found that we do not forget the learned material at an even pace or completely. Initially the rate of forgetting is faster but eventually it stabilises. Another view on memory was suggested by Frederick Bartlett (1932) who contended that memory is not passive but an active process. With the help of meaningful verbal materials such as stories and texts, he demonstrated that memory is a constructive process. That is, what we memorise and store undergoes many changes and modifications over time. So, there is a qualitative difference in what was initially memorised by us and what we retrieve or recall later. There are other psychologists who have influenced memory research in a major way. We shall review their contributions in this chapter at appropriate places. METAPHOR AND DEFINITION OF MEMORY Memory refers to retaining and recalling information over a period, depending upon the nature of cognitive task you are required to perform. It might be necessary to hold an information for a few seconds. For example, you use your memory to retain an unfamiliar telephone number till you have reached the telephone instrument to dial, or for many years you still remember the techniques of addition and subtraction which you perhaps learned during your early schooling. Memory is how we retain and draw on our past experiences to use that information in the present. As a process, memory refers to the dynamic mechanisms associated with storing, retaining, and retrieving information about past experiences. Memory is conceptualised as a process consisting of three independent, though interrelated stages. These are encoding, storage, and retrieval. Any information received by us necessarily goes through these stages. (a) Encoding is the first stage which refers to a process by which information is recorded and registered for the first time so that it becomes usable by our memory system. Whenever an external stimulus impinges on our sensory organs, it generates neural impulses. These are received in different areas of our brain for further processing. In encoding, incoming 93 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
information is received and some meaning is derived. It is then represented in a way so that it can be processed further. (b) Storage is the second stage of memory. Information which was encoded must also be stored so that it can be use later. Storage, therefore, refers to the process through which information is retained and held over a period (c) Retrieval is the third stage of memory. Information can be used only when one is able to recover it from her/his memory. Retrieval refers to bringing the stored information to her/his awareness so that it can be used for performing various cognitive tasks such as problem solving or decision-making. It may be interesting to note that memory failure can occur at any of these stages. You may fail to recall an information because you did not encode it properly, or the storage was weak, so you could not access or retrieve it when required. TYPES OF MEMORY What we usually think of as “memory” in day-to-day usage is long-term memory, but there are also important short-term and sensory memory processes, which must be worked through before a long-term memory can be established. The diverse types of memory each have their own mode of operation, but they all cooperate in the process of memorization, and be three necessary steps in forming a lasting memory. 94 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Figure 6.1.: Types of Memory Sensory Memory Sensory memory is the shortest-term element of memory. It is the ability to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimuli have ended. It acts as a kind of buffer for stimuli received through the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, which are retained accurately, but very briefly. For example, the ability to look at something and remember what it looked like with just a second of observation is an example of sensory memory. The stimuli detected by our senses can be either deliberately ignored, in which case they disappear almost instantaneously, or perceived, in which case they enter our sensory memory. This does not require any conscious attention and, indeed, is usually considered to be totally outside of conscious control. The brain is designed to only process information that will be useful later, and to allow the rest to pass by unnotedly. As information is perceived, it is therefore stored in sensory memory automatically and unbidden. Unlike other types of memory, the sensory memory cannot be prolonged via rehearsal. Sensory memory is an ultra-short-term memory and decays or degrades very quickly, typically in the region of 200 - 500 milliseconds (1/5 - 1/2 second) after the perception of an 95 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
item, and certainly less than a second (although echoic memory is now thought to last a little longer, up to perhaps three or four seconds). Indeed, it lasts for such a brief t ime that it is often considered part of the process of perception, but it nevertheless represents an essential step for storing information in short-term memory. The sensory memory for visual stimuli is sometimes known as the iconic memory, the memory for aural stimuli is known as the echoic memory, and that for touch as the haptic memory. Smell may be even more closely linked to memory than the other senses, possibly because the olfactory bulb and olfactory cortex (where smell sensations are processed) are physically very close - separated by just 2 or 3 synapses - to the hippocampus and amygdala (which are involved in memory processes). Thus, smells may be more quickly and more strongly associated with memories and their associated emotions than the other senses, and memories of a smell may persist for longer, even without constant re-consolidation. Experiments by George Sperling in the early 1960s involving the flashing of a grid of letters for a very short period (50 milliseconds) suggest that the upper limit of sensory memory (as distinct from short-term memory) is approximately 12 items, although participants often reported that they seemed to \"see\" more than they could report. Information is passed from the sensory memory into short-term memory via the process of attention (the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things), which effectively filters the stimuli to only those which are of interest at any given time. Short-Term (Working) Memory Short-term memory acts as a kind of “scratch-pad” for temporary recall of the information which is being processed at any point in time and has been referred to as \"the brain's Post-it note\". It can be thought of as the ability to remember and process information at the same time. It holds a small amount of information (typically around 7 items or even less) in mind in an active, readily-available state for a brief period (typically from 10 to 15 seconds, or sometimes up to a minute). For example, to understand this sentence, the beginning of the sentence needs to be held in mind while the rest is read, a task which is carried out by the short-term memory. Other common examples of short-term memory in action are the holding on to a piece of information temporarily to complete a task (e.g. “carrying over” a number in a subtraction sum or remembering a persuasive argument until another person finishes talking), and simultaneous translation (where the interpreter must store information in one language while orally translating it into another). What is held in short-term memory, though, is not complete concepts, but rather links or pointers (such as words, for example) which the brain can flesh out from its other accumulated knowledge. 96 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
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