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Unconscious perception
The result of sensory information processed automatically below the level of conscious awareness but still capable of influencing how we react and behave
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Bottom-up information
Information about the world that flows ‘up’ from the senses
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Top-down information
Information flowing ‘down’ from stored knowledge which can influence the interpretation of sensory information
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Limited-capacity central processor
A hypothetical construct used to explain why it is not possible to process all incoming information simultaneously
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Dual-task studies
Studies that look at how different pairs of tasks interact when a participant attempts to perform both tasks of the pair at the same time
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Multiple-resource theories of attention
Theories that suggest that different pools of resources are available for different types of tasks as opposed to all tasks drawing on a single central pool of resources
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Attentional spotlight
A metaphor for allocation of attention. Whatever falls within the attentional spotlight receives relatively more processing
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Visual field
The area of the environment that could potentially be seen by an individual at any one moment
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Attentional tunneling
Occurs when attention is ‘tunnelled’ onto a relatively narrow region, and anything happening outside that region is likely to receive little or no processing
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Stimulus-induced shifts of attention
Shifts of attention over which we have no conscious control and which are driven by something in the environment
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Endogenous system
The direction of responses (for example, the allocation of attention) by internal processes (motivation, intentions, etc)
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Exogenous system
The direction of responses (for example, the allocation of attention) by external factors (salient stimuli, etc)
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Bottleneck theory of attention
Theory that suggests a ‘bottleneck’ in the attentional system such that only a small amount of the available sensory information can pass through
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Controlled processes
Those mental processes over which we can exert conscious control
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Automatic processes
Those mental processes that cannot be consciously controlled
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Two-process theories
These theories suggest that automatic and controlled processes operate simultaneously, the balance between the two depending upon the situation
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Cognitive neuropsychology
Attempts to gain insight into cognitive processes by studying the effects of brain trauma (lesion, disease, etc)
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Agnosia
The inability to recognise objects despite normal sensory input
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Unilateral spatial neglect
A tendency to ignore one side of the visual field or one side of an object – despite normal sensory input
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