Theories of Attention and Perception

Theories of Attention and Perception Moses Nhamburo How have psychologists sought to explain selective attention? To what extent have they been successful? According to Psychologists, selective attention is defined as an act where an individual tries to focus on a specific subject or object for a specific period of time, whereas at the same time ignoring several other irrelevant things which might be occurring around that person (Renninge et al, 2014). Such kind of situation occurs with everyone and every day. Psychologists have explained that since it is impossible for a normal human being to give attention to every stimulus in our environment, we tend to select or give attention to only those stimuli, which we believe is important for us. Psychologists have been successful in explaining the concept of selective attention to a larger extent. Their explanation is relevant to what we observe in our day-to-day lives. They have also explained that degree of selective attention can vary from one person to another, finally impacting their ability to focus or concentrate on some particular task. Distraction is one of the way through which psy chologists believe that selective attention can be minimised. For example, if one person is hungry, then he will probably focus more on his meal rather than checking an incoming call on his smart phone (Serences Kastner, 2014). Word count: 229 Compare and contrast two of the major theories of perception and evaluate their impact on psychologists understanding of how we perceive the world Two major theories of perception which can be used for this task is: Constructive aspect of perception Ecological aspect of perception. Joel Norman (2000), states that both these theories differ from each other, however both approaches towards perception can be considered as a valid definition of the perception, but they represent different aspect towards perception. In the constructivists approach, it is believed that the stimulus that reaches our senses are generally insufficient which triggers another perceptual system, and is considered to be intelligent (Warren Wertheim, 2014). It is important to understand that the perceptual system relies on a mechanism, which has inferential characteristics. Majority of the individuals face inherent equivocality associated with the stimulation, it can be said that the perceptual system enable an individual to overcome this equivocality. However this is in contrast to what several psychologists believe. Many psychologists believe on the ecological aspect of the perception further mention that information, which is present in the environment around us, is more than enough to fulfill the requirement of creating a perception and cannot be considered as equivocal in nature. That is why there is no requirement to pick any specific or relevant information. Psychologists who support the constructivists approach or perception believe that this theory of perception is multistage in nature where there are intermediate processes interlinking stimulation and perception. Or in other words this theory suggests that perception is indirect, whereas ecological theorists believe that perception is not a multi stage aspect but is single stage process, and can be considered as immediate and direct (Bevan Sparks, 2014). Psychologists supporting the constructive theory of perception believe that in formation of perception in this theory memory schema or metadata, which stores the past experience, play a critical role. On other hand ecological theory advocates the fact that in formation of perception there is hardly any role of memory and perception is generally formed on the basis of what a person experience at that very moment (Flom, 2014). It has been observed that people with constructivists approach excel in a process where analysis is involved, and there is certain mechanism of underlying perception. On other hand people who follow the ecological approach of perception excels at the analysis of the fact that how a stimulus might reach to the observer. Both these theories to a large extent have impacted psychologists in their understanding of how we perceive the world. Based on their experience psychologists believe that ecological approach of perception majorly parallels the dorsal system. Dorsal system is a system, which basically focuses on transformation of information, which is visual in nature into a framework, which is egocentric in nature, which allows the individual to grasp the object. On other hand constructivists approach parallels the ventral system (Stojanov Indurkhya, 2014). Ventral system is considered to be one of the most basic fundamental, which drives the entire visual processing in the brain. Ventral system is different from the dorsal system, as it transforms the visual information in such a form that it can be considered to be exocentric in nature. This in turn enables an individual to create a perception of the object and a relation with the real world is established. Thus it can be said that ecological theory of perception follows a dorsal system, which is focused more on seeing the motion such as a person grasping an apple to eat. On other hand the constructivists approach focuses on the ventral system, which is focused more towards understanding or knowing the environment rather than physically sensing the object. Word count: 598 Much has happened in the field of perceptual development since the early studies of Fantz, Bower, Gibson and Walk. Analyse how the nature/nurture debate today has been advanced by these early studies. Perceptual development can be defined as a process, which lays down a foundation through which we are able to interpret various types of events of the world-taking place in our environment. Much has changes after initial studies on perceptual development by Fantz, Bower, Gibson and Walk was done. Nature vs. Nurture debate to a large extent has advanced over a period of time. In this argument or discussion of perceptual development the basic argument that has existed since ages, that what exactly drive the process of perceptual development. There has been argument on the fact that whether it is nature, genetics, nurture or experience which his important for the sensory system of the human beings to operate (Augustinova Ferrand, 2014). Often it has been argued that in the process of perceptual development on one hand there is genetic position which is all required by the sensory system of the human beings and is considered to be the most critical factor of life, whereas on other hand it is considered that human beings are like a blank slates at the time of birth, and as we experience new things and aspects in life accordingly our perception is formed on that blank slate and we start perceiving things in life. Word count: 210 TAQ 5: Describe 2 pieces of research that has been used to investigate selective visual attention. Use the Stoop 1935 study and one more recent piece research, which use a more robust method than the original Stoop experiment. In psychology Stroop’s study in 1935 demonstrated that there could be possibility of interference in the reaction time of the task. For example when name of a color is printed in a color which is not denoted by the name, for example word ‘Blue’ printed in Red then in such situation it was found that naming of the word takes longer time as is prone to error. In Stroop’s experiment stimuli was divided into 3 groups namely: neutral, incongruent and congruent. Thus in a neutral stimuli in which only text or color is displayed (Ikeda et al, 2014). Congruent stimuli is the one in which the color of the ink and the word refer to the same color. Lastly in incongruent stimuli ink color and word both differ from each other. One of the relatively recent theories is Feature integration theory of attention, which was developed by Anne Treisman, and Garry advocated the fact that when a human being perceives a stimulus then in that process features are registered first in parallel whereas objects are identified separately. Thus according to this theory the visual attention goes through various stages from the point an object is seen till the point perception is made about the same. As per this theory first object is analysed, then its features are combined and ultimately perception is made. To a large extent this theory further substantiated the Stroop’s experiment with more logical explanation. The Animal Stroop task with children is a quite neat study. Evaluate both the piece of research. Why may the second piece of research be better than the original Stroop experiment Animal Stroop task was basically developed for kids, as the initial test on which Stroop’s experiment was based on the words and colors and due to limited reading abilities of the kids that test was not much successful when applied to the kids. Original Stroop task didn’t consider the visual aspect to a large extent (Anderson, 2014). It was more focused on how an individual reads a particular word and how he perceives that word on the basis of the color. It did not include the image aspect of the perception. On other hand the second experiment, which was based on the images of the animals, included both reading as well as visual perception. This tested the visual perception power of an individual as well. Unlike first test, which was purely based on how an individual perceives and interprets only the textual content, the second research also focused on testing of visual attention when images are displayed to the individual. It can be said that the second Stroop experime nt was more inclusive in nature as it included various other aspects as well, that is why it can be considered to be more comprehensive in nature and revealed more information about the perception making process in an individual Using the information from your answer above, explain how the research on selective visual attention has been applied practically in everyday life. As discussed in above sections, it can be clearly said that selective visual attention definitely has important role to play in our everyday life. Even though most of the time we don’t even realize that the phenomenon is taking place, but we do apply selective visual selection. Practically the concept is applicable in every possible aspect of life. For example you are scrolling through news feed of an online e-paper, however you will never read each and every line, but you will still be aware of that what the content is talking about. The moment we find some content, which we perceives as interesting we will stop scrolling, and start reading that content. Similarly, we are travelling by a local train, but we are not focused on our surroundings and are looking on our smart phone and ignoring the surroundings (Sperling Hsu, 2014). Thus this is a typical example through which it can be understood that how we are visually segregating our attention to only those things which we pe rceive as important. This capability allows human being to avoid getting distracting when the person is trying to focus on some important task. However distraction is the way through which the selective visual attention can be reduced as well. Word count: 707 References Renninger, A., Hidi, S., Krapp, A. (Eds.). 2014.The role of interest in learning and development. Psychology Press. Serences, J. T., Kastner, S. 2014. A multi-level account of selective attention.The Oxford Handbook of Attention, 76. Warren, R., Wertheim, A. H. (Eds.). 2014.Perception and Control of Self-motion. Psychology Press. Bevan, J. L., Sparks, L. 2014. The relationship between accurate and benevolently biased serial argument perceptions and individual negative health perceptions.Communication Research,41(2), 257-281. Flom, R. 2014. Perceptual narrowing: Retrospect and prospect. Developmental psychobiology. Stojanov, G., Indurkhya, B. 2014. Perceptual Similarity and Analogy in Creativity and Cognitive Development. InComputational Approaches to Analogical Reasoning: Current Trends(pp. 371-395). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Augustinova, M., Ferrand, L. 2014. Social priming of dyslexia and reduction of the Stroop effect: What component of the Stroop effect is actually reduced? Cognition,130(3), 442-454. Ikeda, Y., Okuzumi, H., Kokubun, M. 2014. Stroop-like interference in the real animal size test and the pictorial animal size test in 5-to 12-year-old children and young adults.Applied Neuropsychology: Child,3(2), 115-125. Anderson, N. H. (Ed.). 2014.Contributions To Information Integration Theory: Volume 1: Cognition. Psychology Press. Sperling, G., Hsu, A. 2014. Deriving the acuity and the capacity of visual spatial attention.Journal of Vision,14(10), 521-521. MOSES NHAMBUROPage 1

The Case against Tipping

There are many good reasons on why you should tip a waiter. Anyone who has had much experience in a restaurant franchise would know that most of your wages are tips. The places do this in order to promote better service and to save money by not having to pay the employee minimum wages. This can be beneficial to the customer leaving a good tip can give a customer better results with the service. They may get a kinder person, faster service, and hotter and fresher food or drinks. They also can leave with the knowledge that they made the person feel better about their job, and the fact that they may make their days wages. On the bad side of tipping The people usually don’t even make minimum wage. They have to rely on the customer in order to make a pay check. This may make the customer fell like their being scammed out of their money, because the person serving them isn’t working for them so why should they have to pay the persons wages. Another con is the tip your giving may be as much as the stuff you bought or possibly even more. Some places coffee is just a dollar and with a dollar tip that would set the price as the same as what the person bought. Another problem is that they may have a cup set out in order to make the customer feel bad about not tipping. What if you don’t have enough for a tip at the time? You feel you have to because it’s set right there in front of you playing a mental game. OR what if they give you bad service why should you tip for that? What reasons do you find most compelling? The reasons I find most compelling are the fact that restaurants in particular push their waiters/waitresses into the customer’s hands. I am one that believes that the people should get paid regular wages and have their tips be a bonus for good work. Not have the customers foot the wages for them so they can be greedy and put more money in their pockets. Another reason that I find compelling on the other side is the fact that sense the customer does it helps them get better service. I do get understand the sense of gratification of the person that tips and receives it does make them feel better about their jobs. But at the same time people shouldn’t feel obligated to tip for bad service. Which concerns have particular merit? I think that the tip jar situation does have merit. If a person set a jar out for tips it is a trap that messes with the customers mind. I would personally feel bad if I looked at the tip jar and didn’t have enough money to pay or if I got bad service I’d feel like I was being forced to pay for that bad service. Also The fact that the employees have to make their wages off of the tips poses a lot of merit. Essentially on one hand I’m paying for a worker that isn’t employed by me. On the other hand that worker has to make their wages. Can you balance the interests of both sides of the issue?

Drinking Alcohol Essay - 1379 Words

Drinking Alcohol Alcohol can and does kill millions of people. It can effect your brain and make you shake, lose all your senses, and kill off your brain cells. It also can cause your liver to deteriorate and not function properly. Liver transplants are hard to come by and do not happen often, if your liver goes out you do not have many chances of living much longer. You could also choke on your puke and die. Drinking too much alcohol can kill you, but millions of people consume mass amounts daily. College students drink and party a great amount. The average student drinks at least three nights a week and that is the weekend. Most sororities and fraternities encourage drinking. The fraternities make their pledges drink and the†¦show more content†¦I do not know how those kids do it, but hopefully they will realize it someday. In my experience in college, I have realized that alcohol has had a very bad impact on my choices and academics. Although my grades this semester have improved from last semester, I have not picked up a book in two weeks. I went to Arizona to visit this guy that I know from high school and all I did was drink when I was there. Once I returned, I had to work and I have also had a lot of stupid things to deal with ever since. Somehow I managed to drink thursday, friday, and saturday. Each night I did not get home until around four or five in the morning. I do not know how I did it, but I made it to class on friday. I do not feel as if I have a drinking problem because I know I do not need it to have a good time. I am shy and when I drink I do not feel shy anymore and just walk up to random people and talk to them. It is really hard for me to make friends when I am sober because I choke up and can not think of anything to say. Also, I can not dance but when I am drunk I have so much fun dancing and laughing with my friends and the people I meet. Somehow alcohol is easily available and people want to drink with me so that is how it usually starts. There are many bad situations where I feel could have been avoided if I had not been drunk. I think that I need to get back in the habit of doing allShow MoreRelatedDrinking Alcohol And Alcohol Abuse952 Words   |  4 PagesEveryday around the world alcoholics attempt to quit drinking, with many succumbing to addiction once more. Alcohol can be highly addictive and plaguing the lives of alcohol abusers. When alcoholics do attempt to quit drinking alcohol, they go through various withdrawal symptoms that complicates the road to sobriety. Quitting alcohol is far from a simple process and will require initiative and perseverance. Although many attempt to quit alcohol by simply by going â€Å"cold turkey,† there are various stepsRead MoreThe Problem Of Drinking Alcohol868 Words   |  4 Pagesatrocities. 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Taking a Closer Look at Alzheimers Disease Essay - 784 Words

What is Alzheimer’s disease? Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia known today. The term â€Å"dementia† refers to a variety of conditions that arise from the loss of nerve cell function and/or nerve cell death in the brain, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other types of mixed dementia. Although all types of dementia arise from neuronal damage and/or death, each form of dementia is associated with distinct brain abnormalities and symptom patterns. Once a patient has been diagnosed with dementia, a physician must conduct further tests in order to determine the exact form of dementia that is present. Recent research indicates that many individuals,†¦show more content†¦Thus, the preclinical stage of AD currently cannot be diagnosed (cite). Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer’s disease This stage of AD is characterized by measurable changes in the thinking abilities of the affected individual that are noticeable to the individual and those around them. These changes are mild and do not affect the individual’s ability to perform everyday tasks; however, approximately 50% of individuals who seek medical attention for their MCI symptoms will develop AD dementia in the next three to four years (cite). Dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease This stage of AD is characterized by memory, thinking and behavioral symptoms that dramatically impair an individual ability to function normally. These symptoms are caused by AD related brain changes and affect an individual’s ability to perform everyday tasks (cite). Alzheimer’s disease Symptoms As with most diseases, the symptoms caused by AD vary for person to person. 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