Divided Attention

The ability to attend to multiple stimuli simultaneously and to perform multiple tasks at the same time
Task Similarity
The participant is more likely to be successful if the task involves different stimulus or response
modalities
Task Difficulty
The ability to perform two tasks together depends on their difficulty
Practice
The demands placed on attentional resources may be reduced if the task or action is practiced
Selective Attention
The ability to focus on a single stimulus, even while other stimuli are occurring simultaneously
Spotlight Model of Attention
Attention as having a focus, a margin, and a fringe, like a spotlight
Resource Model of Attention
We have limited resources when it comes to attention
Cocktail Party Effect
The phenomenon of being able to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering
out a range of other stimuli
Inattentional Blindness
The event in which an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight
Change Blindness
A perceptual phenomenon that occurs when a change in a visual stimulus is introduced and the
observer does not notice it
Distal Stimuli
Any physical object or event in the external world that reflects light
Proximal Stimuli
The patterns of stimuli from these objects and events that actually reach your senses
Covert Orienting
The act to mentally shifting one's focus without moving one's eyes
Overt Orienting
The act of selectively attending to an item or location over others by moving the eyes to point in that
direction
Attentional Capture
The unintentional focusing of attention, for example by a change in a stimulus, which interrupts other
processing
Neglect Syndrome
A neuropsychological condition in which, after damage to one hemisphere of the brain is sustained, a
deficit in attention to and awareness of one side of the field of vision is observed
Vigilance Attention
The ability to maintain concentrated attention over prolonged periods of time
Executive Attention
Refers to a subfunction of attention that includes processes for monitoring and resolving conflicts that
arise among internal processes
Speech Shadowing
An experimental technique in which subjects repeat speech immediately after hearing it, usually
through earphones