Psychology

• Who conducted the classic study on divided attention in 1953?

  Cherry
• What method did Cherry use to test divided attention?

  Shadowing
• What were participants required to do in Cherry's study?

  Repeat one of two messages
• How were the two messages presented in Cherry's study?

  Simultaneously to both ears or one to each ear
• What was the difficulty faced by participants in the binaural presentation?

  Separating the messages
• What were participants unaware of in the rejected message?

  Content of the rejected message
• What was the outcome of the dichotic presentation in Cherry's study?

  Participants could separate messages effectively
• What specific change did participants notice in the rejected message?

  Change from speech to a tone
• What did Galambos suggest about peripheral blocks?

  They produce rejection at the cochlea or early processing
• Why were peripheral blocks considered unlikely to explain selective attention?

  They could only prevent limited responses
• Where does more complex processing occur in the brain?

  In the cortex
• What did Sharpless and Jasper demonstrate using cats?

  The importance of the auditory cortex
• What could cats with a damaged auditory cortex still do?

  Detect differences in pitch and localization
• What could cats not perform with a damaged auditory cortex?

  Complex discriminations between sounds
• What did Moray suggest about the dichotic shadowing task?

  It uses a high-level cortical mechanism
• What types of stimuli can break through the attentional barrier?

  Some specific stimuli and situations
• What phenomenon is often attributed to Cherry?

  Cocktail party phenomenon
• What are the key findings of Cherry's 1953 study on divided attention?

  • Shadowing method used
  • Binaural task: difficult to separate messages
  • Dichotic task: effective separation of messages
  • Unawareness of content in rejected message
  • Awareness of changes like tone or speaker's gender
• What are the implications of Moray's observations on selective attention?

  • Certain stimuli can penetrate attentional barriers
  • Examples include:
  • Mothers hearing their children
  • Responding to one's name at a party