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Selective Attention, Arousal, and the Theory of Signal Detection Paula A Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1974 Selective attention, arousal, and the theory of signal detection Paula A. Goolkasian Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons, and the Psychiatry and Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Goolkasian, Paula A., "Selective attention, arousal, and the theory of signal detection " (1974). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 6340. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/6340 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from ieft to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation. Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and specific pages you wish reproduced. 5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 75-3304 GOOLKASIAN, Paula A., 1948- SELECTIVE ATTENTION. AROUSAL. AND THE THEORY OF SIGNAL DETECTION. Iowa State University, Ph.D., 1974 Psychology, experimental Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48i os TH!S DSSSERTATÎON HAS BEEN MÎCRCFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. Selective attention, arousal, and the theory of signal detection by Paula A. Goolkasian A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of DOCrOH OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Psychology Approved: Signature was redacted for privacy. In Charge of Major Work Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Major Department Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Graduate College Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1974 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 Problem 1 Definition of attention 2 Research program 30 EXPERIMENT I 34 Method 38 Results HH Discussion 54 EXPERIMENT II 57 Method 58 Results 62 Discussion 74 GENERAL DISCUSSION 77 Relationship between arousal and performance 80 Effects of stressors 82 Motor performance 85 Conclusion 86 REFERENCES 88 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 95 APPENDIX A: ANDVA'S 96 APPENDIX 3: RATING SCALE FOR STUDY II 147 1 INTRODOCriON Problem Visual perceptual iemands in daily activities, for exam­ ple driving or walking, consist of simultaneously arriving stimuli. 3esponsas to these stimuli are complex, and usually involve coordination of motor and perceptual skills in com­ peting tasks. Under normal conditions execution of these overlearned behaviors pose few problems for the human infor­ mation processing system. Performance on a number 3f tasks at once is entirely feasible as long as the processing demands of each task are low. For example, the driving sita- ation reguires keeping the car on the road, together with a constant monitoring of the visual field for cues from possi­ ble sources of collisions, and this is usually performed with relative ease. What happens, however, when these same tasks are carried out ia the background of stressful auditory noise, or under conditions of drowsiness or lack of sleep? The guestion in a more basic sense involves the ability to attend to various tasks simultaneously under different levels of arousal. Does the stressor become a rival for a share of the processing capacity, and in doing so, cause a decreient in the systems efficiency to deal with complex tasks? Or is it the case, that stress somehow facilitates task performance by selecting a small amount of relevant information for ex­ tended processing, and limiting awareness to extraneous 2 signals that may interface? Or does a third alternative hold i.e., that stress is handled by the information processing system without any effect on the attentional lachanism? Given justification for either of the first tïo alternatives, what specific changes in attentional processes are brought about by variations in the general state of arousal. Is the effect mainly on the amount of stimulus information that can be attended to at once, or is it more a matter of a change in the organization and outpat of the response mechanism? Or io both occur? How are overall motor and perceptual behaviors affected? Definition of attention Distinct notions of attention have been present in psy­ chological tradition since the eighteenth and nineteenth century philosophers. Leibnitz's apperception refers to the attentional mechanism serving to select ideas at lower stages of consciousness. Hamilton, a Scottish philosopher, consid­ ered attention as a "pulling out or in of the tubes (of a telescope) in accommodating the focus to the object" (Hamilton, 1883, p. 16 5). Borrowing from these ideas, the early psychologists experimented with various notions of at­ tention. The structuralists emphasized the "sensory clearness" aspect which is the process of highlighting or sustaining attention to certain inputs (Titchener, 1903). The functionalists referred to attention as the ability to 3 inhibit surroundiag stimuli for the benefit of a few. "At­ tention is taking hold of the mini in clear aad vivid form of one out of what saems several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought" (James, 1918). These basic conceptualizations of attention are still the focus of present day thinking. Contemporary research has largely dealt with two areas; vigilance, study of the "sustaining" mechanism of attention, and saleçtive_attentioa, attention viewed as a filtering process. Concern here will be with the latter approach. Selective attention is defined as encompassing both a perceptual filter, that controls sensitivity to incoming stimulus information, and a response filter, that involves a bias in response faculties toward particular outputs regardless of the nature of the stimulus input. Current theories of selective attention are usually di­ vided into three groups: the information flow models of Broadbent and Triesman, the Deutsch and Deutsch response se­ lection model, and the single channel theories of Kristofferson. Senders, and Moray. These theories are dis­ cussed in the first section of this paper. Theories of attention Broadbent's (19 58) information flow model is perhaps the first modern theory of attention. The modal, as it was in­ troduced, consisted of a short term store (S) from which in- 4 formation was passed selectively to a more permanent serial processor (P). The atteational aspect is necessary because of the limited capacity of the P system. This limit is defined in informational terms (bits per second), and a filter is postulated in the transition from the S to the P system to avoid overloading the P system. Broadbent de­ scribes the filter operation as following an all-or-none rule. The cues that are used for selection are based on physical features such as intensity, frequency, and modality. (These physical cues must bypass the filter to perform this function.) Split span studies provided empirical support far the all-or-none filter (Broadbent, 1954). Since performance is higher when digits are recalled by sensory channel rather than by order of arrival, Broadbent reasoned that selection must take place during stimulus input. In a dichotic listening task, the filter selects a channel (ear) from which information is passed to the P system, and the remaining signals from the unattended ear are held in the S system. The efficiency of physical cues as the basis for input selec­ tion was suggested by Cherry's (1953) shadowing studies. Al­ though Ss were aware of the presence of items in the unattended channel and they noticed variations in intensity and pitch, they CDuld nat report the content of the message, nor did
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