Available online
Description
In this programme Ilona Roth examines our ability to attend to one of several stimuli. She builds models to explain this behaviour and outlines current theoretical debates on these issues.
In this programme Ilona Roth examines our ability to attend to one of several stimuli. She builds models to explain this behaviour and outlines current theoretical debates on these issues.
| Module code and title: | D303, Cognitive psychology |
|---|---|
| Item code: | D303; 05 |
| First transmission date: | 01-05-1978 |
| Published: | 1978 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:25 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Roger Penfound |
| Contributor: | Ilona Roth |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Attention; Psychology; Stimuli; Visual fields |
| Footage description: | The programme begins with a split screen of Ilona Roth giving two descriptions of the programme. This effect is used to highlight the importance of focusing one's attention. As a further example of this the work of the television control room and the camera operators, is shown. Ilona now discusses the work of Donald Broadbent on auditory attention. Results from this type of experiment enable her to build up a model to explain our ability to pay attention to various types of stimuli. Having built a model, Ilona now turns to Broadbent's split span experiments to check that it operates properly. She now moves on to discuss the idea of focused attention and whether or not her model can explain it. A split screen, showing a ball game and a hand game, is shown, to demonstrate our ability to focus our eyes on one visual field at a time. The split screen sequence is shown again, and leads to the idea that in some cases information from a second input can filter through. This leads Ilona to make several alterations to her original model, so that filtering out of information occurs after recognition of the stimulus rather than before. The ball and hand game are now shown once again, only now the images are superimposed. This example is used to demonstrate our ability to select one event sequence from several via the same physical channel. Our explanation of this is the idea that we use schemes in order to help us recognise certain patterns of behaviour. This implies that selective attention may be an integral part of the perceptual process. Finally Ilona discusses the resources allocation model and how this could be incorporated with other models to give a picture of the general model desired to explain our perceptual processes. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/72845 |
| Production number: | 00525_72845 |
| Videofinder number: | 204 |
| Available to public: | no |
