Attentional Hypothesis Research Articles

Alleviation of response suppression to conditioned aversive stimuli by lesions of the dorsal noradrenergic bundle

Rats with neurotoxic lesions of the dorsal ascending noradrenergic bundle (DB) were compared with sham-operated (SH) controls on the acquisition, steady state and extinction of response suppression maintained by a classical (conditioned suppression) or an instrumental (discriminated punishment) contingency. DB lesions interfered neither with the acquisition of the reference response of sucrose-rewarded barpressing nor with unconditioned responding to the overhead flashing light subsequently used as a signal of shock. The acquisition of discriminated response suppression was also unaffected by the lesion under both types of contingency. However, once discriminated suppression had stabilized, both the conditioned and the discriminative stimulus used were significantly less effective in maintaining suppression in DB animals than in SH controls provided that low intensity footshock (0.2 mA) was used as the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Upon increase of UCS intensity (to 0.5 mA) normal suppression was observed in the DB group under both contingencies. Extinction of the classical contingency reinstated the difference between DB and SH performance: DB lesion resulted in significantly faster extinction of fear. In contrast, extinction of the discriminated punishment contingency was unaffected by the lesion, although generalized response suppression dissipated faster in the DB than in the SH animals trained under this condition. Our results offer no support for the reinforcement hypothesis of DB function (normal acquisition of barpressing and of discriminated suppression of barpressing); mixed support (greater initial generalization of suppression in DB animals) and contradiction (more rapid extinction of conditioned suppression in DB animals) for the attentional hypothesis; and weak support (reduced suppression and more rapid extinction of suppression in DB animals, but only within limited experimental parameters) for the anxiety hypothesis of DB function. Hence none of the extant theories of DB function offer a ready explanation of the pattern of results presented here. A simple interpretation which conforms with the sparsity of positive behavioural findings in the literature on DB lesions is that forebrain noradrenaline contributes to the detection and utilization of conditioned stimuli; but that this contribution is critical only for the detection of stimuli with low associative strength.

Serial position effects in humans and animals: A reply to Gaffan

Gaffan (1983) argues that there is only weak evidence for Roberts and Kraemer's (1981) contention that the primacy effect may be a general characteristic of primate memory. He considers our conclusion in the larger context of his own research and points out that he has reported several failures to find a primacy effect in list memory experiments with monkeys. Our position clearly needs clarification. We considered our data and those of Sands and Wright (1980a, 1980b) in the still broader context of comparative research. We found it notable that researchers in different laboratories, using different species of monkeys, different stimuli, and different procedures, had been able to produce reliable primacy effects in monkeys. At the time our paper was written, no primacy effects had been found for retention of once-presented lists in pigeons (MacPhail, 1980; Shimp, 1976; Shimp & Moffitt, 1974), rats (Roberts & Smythe, 1979), or a dolphin (Thompson & Herman, 1977). Our intention, then, was to indicate that primacy effects were reliably demonstrable in human and nonhuman primates but had not been demonstrated in nonprimate species. It was not our intention to imply that primacy effects had been found in every list memory experiment done with monkeys, any more than we would claim that every list memory experiment with humans shows a primacy effect. Gaffan's claim that a primacy effect may be found in monkeys only under certain experimental conditions should be acknowledged, but it does not detract from the fact that production of a primacy effect now can be generalized from human to nonhuman primates. Given that a primacy effect now has been demonstrated under certain conditions with monkeys, we may entertain theoretical accounts of this effect. Gaffan (1983) advances the hypothesis that monkeys in the Roberts and Kraemer (1981) and Sands and Wright (1980a, 1980b) experiments attended more to the initial item of a list than to the following items and that the primacy effects they observed were a consequence of better memory for more highly attended items. The initial stimulus was attended to more strongly because a response was required to introduce this stimulus but not the remainder of the list. In his experiments, monkeys had to respond to produce each list item, and no primacy effects were found. It is suggested that item presentation contingent on a subject's response maintains attention and high retention for all items on a list. We too have considered the possible importance of attentional processes in the primacy effects seen in our monkeys, and we continue to do so. However, there are some problems with the position advocated by Gaffan (1983). Gaffan says nothing about the recencyeffect. Both Roberts and Kraemer (1981) and Sands and Wright (1980a, 1980b) found an increase in retention for items at the end of a list. Why should retention improve for terminal items (often to a level higher than that for the initial item) if all items beyond the first One are poorly attended? In the Roberts and Kraemer experiments, list lengths of three and six items were randomly intermixed, with twice as many six-item lists as three-item lists. Animals could not predict whether the third item presented in a list would be in the middle of a six-item list or at the end of a three-item list. Yet, the same item was poorly retained when tested as Position 3 in a sixitem list and better retained when tested as the final item of a three-item list. If this item was poorly attended to in both cases, why was it better remembered in the three-item list than in the six-itemlist? Finally, let us consider research with nonprimate species. Shimp (1976) required pigeons to peck a key designating the correct position of each item in a three-item list, and Roberts and Smythe (1979) required rats to enter each of the alleys that made up a seven-item list. Since animals responded to each item of the list in both cases, Gaffan's response-dependent attentional hypothesis suggests that consistently high retention should be found at all serial positions. Instead, marked declines in performance were seen from the ends of the lists to the beginnings. Although attentional processes certainly may be important in memory experiments, it seems unlikely that response-generated attention can account for the variety of serial position effects seen in monkeys and other animals. There seems to be substantial evidence that the position of items in a list exerts strong effects on retention when the presentation of items is both response dependent and response independent.

A stages-of-information approach to hyperactivity.

In a memory search task with context recognition, three groups of children were examined: hyperactives, somewhat hyperactives and controls. It was found that the hyperactive groups differed from controls at the intercept of reaction time and not the slope. This was interpreted as evidence against a selective attention hypothesis in hyperactivity and evidence of either an 'encoding' or a response organization deficit. The unexpected slower and less accurate performance of somewhat hyperactives than those rated as hyperactives may have been due to the higher rating of variable task application in the former than in the latter.

Dimensional separability or flexibility of attention? Age trends in perceiving configural stimuli

The hypothesis that perceptual development proceeds from less to greater dimensional separability was tested by giving a speeded classification task to first and fouth graders. In Experiment 1, children sorted line drawings of a cartoon figure into two piles according to his eyes (open or closed) or his mouth (smiling or frowning). First graders exhibited the pattern characteristic of integral dimensions: An interference effect was found when dimensions were combined orthogonally and a facilitation effect when dimensions were correlated, relative to a condition in which only one dimension varied. Fourth graders exhibited an optional separable pattern: There was facilitation in the correlated condition but no interference in the orthogonal condition. These results support the hypothesis that development proceeds toward greater flexibility of attention rather than simply toward increasing separability. A flexible field hypothesis of visual attention was suggested to explain how older children can exercise such optional separability. This hypothesis correctly predicted the asymmetrical relation between dimensions found in Experiments 2 and 3: For both first and fourth graders, the eyes of a cartoon figure (open or closed) and his location (right or left) were nonseparable when the eyes were relevant and separable (or optional separable) when location was relevant.

Generic overjustification: The interaction of extrinsic rewards

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that the value of one extrinsic reward will be undermined when another extrinsic reward is made contingent upon the same activity. Subjects were assigned to one of three experimental groups. Some were paid a contingent monetary reward for engaging in a monotonous and boring activity and were then given the opportunity to continue to work voluntarily for additional payment. Others were given both money and extra experimental credit for the required task, and were likewise offered additional pay for voluntary extra work. A third group of subjects received money for the required task, but were given no additional rewards for extra work. It was observed that the money + credit subjects did less extra work for pay than the money-only subjects. They also rated the monetary reward as having been of less value to them. Subjects who were paid during the initial task session but not for extra work did less additional work than those who were paid in both sessions, but did not differ in their ratings of the value of the monetary reward. It is concluded that extrinsic rewards are nonadditive, and that current models of undermined rewards are too limited to account for this phenomenon. A selective attention hypothesis is advanced as an alternative.

The significance of laterality effects.

Language laterality can be unequivocally ascertained by comparing the effects of unilateral ECT to the right and the left hemisphere. It has been shown in right-handed depressed patients that a unilateral treatment to the left hemisphere resulted in transient dysphasia whereas unilateral ECT to the right hemisphere did not. The language laterality in a small group of left-handed depressed patients has been ascertained. Evidence is presented to show that neither dichotic listening nor hand position for writing provide satisfactory indices of language laterality. The ear advantage was more closely related to strength of sinistrality than to language laterality--that is sidedness appears to overide brainedness. The results favour a spatial attention hypothesis rather than a structural hypothesis as the main determinant of laterality effects.

Role of the feedback signal in electromyograph biofeedback: the relevance of attention.

This article describes two experiments designed to examine the hypothesis that the critical role of the feedback signal in frontalis electromyograph (EMG) biofeedback is an attentional one. In both experiments, high- and low-absorption subjects were assigned to either a biofeedback condition, a no-feedback condition, or an attentional demand condition in which external stimuli, related to relaxation, were presented as an attentional focus. The two experiments differed essentially in the type of attentional demand condition that was employed and varied the compelling nature of the demand on subjects for an external attentional focus. The pattern of results was consistent with the attentional hypothesis. For low-absorption subjects, performance in the biofeedback and attentional demand conditions was equivalent and appreciably greater than in the no-feedback condition. For high-absorption subjects, an interference effect of biofeedback was observed, but data indicated a similar interference effect on the performance of subjects when the attentional demand condition was most compelling. The pattern of results obtained point to the special relevance of attentional processes and highlight their lack of emphasis in contemporary theoretical models of EMG biofeedback.

Evidence for rhythmic attention.

Three studies compared effects of different rhythmic contexts on order judgments of targets embedded in auditory patterns designed to manifest auditory stream segregation. Of interest was the effect of rhythmic structure upon the frequency-based captor effect, wherein tones in one stream "capture" those of similar frequencies from another. Three rhythmic structures were studied. Experiment 1 compared a rhythm conducive to pairwise-target stream formation with one conducive to a four-tone stream, and one based on an isochronous rhythm in a within-subjects design. Patterns embedding the target tone pair contained a preliminary string of captor tones at frequencies either close or far from frequencies of distracting tones that flanked the target pair. No effect of captor distance was found. Experiments 2 and 3 varied rhythm between subjects using 9- and 11-tone patterns, respectively. In general, the magnitude of the captor effect was found to vary with temporal predictability of flanking and/or target tones. The pairwise rhythm was most likely to improve order judgments by facilitating frequency-based capture. Results are discussed in terms of a rhythmic attentional hypothesis.

Use of Cognitive Capacity in Reading Easy and Difficult Text: Two Tests of an Allocation of Attention Hypothesis

Use of cognitive capacity in reading easy and difficult text was observed with a secondary task technique in 2 experiments. Previous experiments had shown that easy text filled cognitive capacity more completely than difficult text. One hypothesis for this effect is that attention was allocated differentially to easy passages at the expense of difficult ones. Contrary to this hypothesis, in both of the present experiments, content tests showed that a large amount of detailed information was learned from both easy and difficult texts. When the memory load was reduced to reduce the motivation for differential allocation of attention, easy texts continued to fill cognitive capacity more completely than difficult texts. These results were not consistent with an allocation of attention hypothesis. Other hypotheses were considered.

When you know that you know and when you think that you know but you don’t

College students rated the likelihood of recall of individual words presented for free recall learning. Predictions were made using a 7-point scale immediately following an item’s presentation in the list. To-be-rated items included those presented one time, as well as items presented twice in either a massed (MP) or distributed (DP) manner. Twice-presented items were rated as more likely to be recalled than items presented once, and they were; MP items were judged more likely to be recalled than DP items, but they were not. The finding that subjects think that they know MP items when they do not suggests why processing may be less for massed than for distributed presentations. As such, these results provide support for the attenuation of attention hypothesis of the spacing effect in free recall.

Attentional hypothesis in question

Attentional hypothesis in question

Effects of the organization of text on memory: Texts of two implications of a selective attention hypothesis.

Effects of the organization of text on memory: Texts of two implications of a selective attention hypothesis.

Effects of the organization of text on memory: Texts of two implications of a selective attention hypothesis.

Effects of the organization of text on memory: Texts of two implications of a selective attention hypothesis.

Two tests of a neural attention hypothesis for auditory psychophysics.

A theory of neural attention is presented, and it is argued that intensity attention bands and critical bands of frequency are simply two manifestations of it. This suggests studying it by taking observations on the one variable while manipulating the other over a large range. The first experiment is a conventional magnitude estimate experiment, except that on any trial one of two different signal frequencies are presented at random. Using as measures relative variability in the ratio of successive responses and the correlation between them, it appears that a large change in intensity at the same frequency on successive trials is equivalent to a large change in frequency on those trials. The second experiment is a simple two-frequency identification experiment, except that the stimulus intensity varies randomly from trial to trial according to a predetermined distribution in which there is a tight cluster of intensity as well as two outliers. Identification is better when the stimulus intensity is chosen from the cluster than when it is an outlier, which is what one would expect if the attention band is located to encompass the cluster.

Temporal Estimates as a Function of Difficulty of Mental Arithmetic

This study was designed to assess the effects of specific types of mental arithmetic on subjects' estimates of how long they worked on the problems. It was hypothesized that the more demanding problems would produce the greatest underestimates of duration of work. The factorial design included types of task (1 digit × 1 digit and 2 digit × 1 digit), levels of difficulty (easy and hard, defined in terms of size of multiplier), and work periods of 8, 12, 16, and 20 sec. An empty reproduction paradigm was employed; results indicated only partial support for the hypothesis in that the 2 digit × 1 digit easy problems produced maximal underestimates of work periods. Results are interpreted in terms of response strategies and attentional hypotheses.

Relation of eye movements to errors on the Rod-and-Frame Test.

By a selective-attention model of rod-and-frame test performance frame-independent (small error) subjects are better able than frame-dependent (large error) subjects to select out relevant cues (the rod) while suppressing irrelevant ones (the frame). However, certain clinical studies have implied that smaller errors can be obtained by employing eye-movement strategies that ignore rather than actively suppress irrelevant cues. In this study the number, magnitude, and rate of eye movements were measured in 15 subjects actively engaged in the test. While no discernible relationship of these variables to test errors was determined for frame-dependent subjects, significant negative correlations of rate and magnitude of movement with errors were demonstrated for frame-independent subjects. Group differences were observed in number and magnitude of eye movements. These findings are discussed as support for the hypothesis of selective attention.

Sex-Role Learning: A Test of the Selective Attention Hypothesis

BRYAN, JANICE WESTLUND, and LURIA, ZELLA. Sex-Role Learning: A Test of the Selective Attention Hypothesis. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 49, 13-23. Both social learning and cognitivedevelopmental theories propose that acquisition of sex-role knowledge depends upon some mechanism of selective attention to same-sex models. In 2 experiments, pictures of a male and female model performing matched acts were shown, and visual attention was assessed by the method of feedback electroencephalography (EEG). Recall and preference for the slides were also measured. In experiments 1 and 2, 48 children (ages 5-6 and 9-10) viewed models performing sex-appropriate, sex-inappropriate, and sex-neutral tasks. No difference was found in the EEG attentional measures for the male versus female slides. In experiment 1 the children recalled and preferred the same-sex task and preferred the same-sex model. In experiment 2 the children, regardless of gender, recalled more of the male than the female slides. Males preferred the male tasks while females preferred male and female tasks equally. It was concluded that there is no evidence in these studies for selective attention to same-sex models. It was shown with appropriate comparison conditions that the finding of no difference (null) could not be attributed to insensitivity of the alpha-blocking response as an index of visual attention: significant differences of alpha blocking were associated with shifts of visual attention which were included as control conditions in the experiments.

A critical analysis of the attention hypothesis of Zeaman and House: Problems of parameter interactions in multiparameter models

The attention hypothesis of Zeaman and House [in N. R. Ellis (Ed.), Handbook of mental deficiency. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963 ] was examined through a systematic, computer-simulation analysis of the parameter interactions found in the One-Look model. The hypothesis states that mental retardates and normals differ in their initial attention habits but not in their learning rates in the context of discrimination learning. The analysis showed that possible differences in the learning rates cannot be ruled out. The result was used to suggest how shift designs can unconfound the effect of the attention habits from the effect of the learning rates and maximize chances of observing possible differences in the learning rates between retarded and normal children.

The Effects of Pictures on Rate of Learning Sight Words: A Critique of the Focal Attention Hypothesis

TESTED THE FOCAL ATTENTION HYPOTHESIS that pictures interfere with sight-word learning. The design was structured to avoid 2 methodological flaws identified in most related research. Seventytwo kindergarten pupils learned 4 words with or without pictures in a trials-to-criterion paradigm. Pupils were first presented with either words + picture, words + voice, or words alone and were then given feedback in one of the 3 modes. The word sets consisted of either similar or dissimilar (initial consonant) words. Learning rate was computed and analyzed. Contrary to the predictions of the focal attention hypothesis, pictures presented with words facilitated rather than hindered learning. It is suggested that conclusions about the distracting effect of pictures, based upon the focal attention hypothesis, are unwarranted.

Intrusions in schizophrenic speech: The immediacy hypothesis vs the lapse of attention hypothesis

Speech samples emitted by schizophrenics and individually matched normals were compared to test whether the immediacy hypothesis or the lapse-of-attention view explains the basis of schizophrenic verbal behavior more effectively. Intrusions in speech were employed as indicators of fluctuating attention, and the guessability of words deleted from speech (“cloze”) was used as a measure of general communicability. Since the inclusion or exclusion of intrusions made no difference with respect to the differential communicability of the speech of normals and schizophrenics, we concluded that the immediacy hypothesis was more consonant with the data than the lapse-of-attention view.