Unit 2 AOS2 - Attention

Penelope was playing her XBox and didn’t notice her Mum, Catherine arrive. Catherine was trying to tell Penelope about her day at work and what needed to be done this afternoon, but Penelope told her "not right now" because she couldn’t concentrate on the game.

Why did Penelope not hear her mum come home? Due to...

• Selective Attention

• Divided Attention

• Sustained Attention

Answer explanation

Penelope was using selective attention to play Xbox. This means her concentration was focused solely on the game to the exclusion of other stimuli (e.g. Catherine, her mum, entering the house).

Penelop finished her game, Catherine wanted to do the dishes. When Catherine started doing the dishes, she was able to listen to Penelope and still concentrate on getting the dishes clean. What type of attention is Catherine using?

• Sustained Attention

• Selective Attention

• Divided Attention

Answer explanation

She could use divided attention, allowing her to focus on two tasks simultaneously: cleaning the dishes and listening to her daughter.

Ryan has been an air traffic controller for three years. He found that when started the job it was quite hard, to ensure the successful coordination of multiple aircraft. Which type of attention Ryan need to use to ensure specific aircraft are safe?

• Ryan uses selective attention in his job, as he needs to focus his attention on the specific aircraft

• Ryan uses divided attention in his job, as he needs to focus on multiple aircrafts.

• Ryan uses sustained attention in his job, as the aircrafts take time to land and to take off.

Ryan has been an air traffic controller for three years. He found that when started the job it was quite hard, to ensure the successful coordination of multiple aircraft. What type of stimuli is Ryan paying attention to?

• Internal Stimuli

• External Stimuli

Answer explanation

External stimuli, because he is watching and listening to the planes taking off and landing (originating outside of the body).

Organize these options into the right categories

Groups:

(a) Internal Stimuli

,

(b) External Stimuli

• Feeling cold

• Remembering that time you fell over

• Feeling the spikes on a pineapple

• Listening to people talking

• Pain in your shoulder

• Feeling hungry

• Smelling smoke from the fireplace

A clinical psychologist at Clinesdale Hospital is researching how schizophrenia impacts the brain’s functioning. From the total list of patients at the Clinesdale Hospital who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, the psychologist uses a random number generator to select 12 people to participate in the study.

The population is ​ (a)   and the sample is ​ (b)  

• people with schizophrenia
• 12 patients with schizophrenia
• clinical psychologists
• patients from Clinesdale hospital
• 12 patients from schizophrenia from Clinesdale

A researcher is studying how the location of items in a shop can influence how often they are purchased. The researcher puts the same small bottles of hand sanitiser on the checkout counter as well as in their regular place in the toiletries aisle. The number of bottles taken from the counter and from the toiletries aisle for purchase are recorded. Information such as the time of day and from the characteristics of the shopper are also recorded as purchases are made. At the end of the week, it is found that the number of bottles of hand sanitiser purchased from the counter was greater than the number of bottles purchased from the toiletries aisle. Identify the investigation methodology used in this study.

• Correlational Study

• Fieldwork

• Controlled Experiment (Between Subjects)

• Controlled Experiment (Within Subjects)

• Case Study

Answer explanation

Fieldwork methodology was used. This involved direct observation and sampling by watching and recording the shoppers’ purchasing behaviour without interference or intervention from the researcher.