Perception and Attention

Perception and Attention

The cognitive process of perception

Perception is the capability of capturing, processing, and making sense of any information that our senses receive (“CogniFit”, 2020). The cognitive process makes it possible for the surroundings to be interpreted with the stimuli through our sensory organs. Perception is important to our daily lives as it makes it possible to comprehend our surroundings. The perception process requires a bottom-up and top-down processing, which means that the stimuli we receive does not only direct us (bottom-up) but also expect to anticipate specific stimuli, which control perception (top-up).

A mistake that may happen in visual perception

          Change blindness: Change blindness is a condition whereby people miss to notice any changes that happen in their visual environment. It happens when a bigger visual transient like an eye blink, screen flicker, saccadic eye movement, or a cut in a motion picture conceals the visual transient that is produced by a change.

The areas of the brain that is responsible for visual perception

The occipital lobes are one of the regions in the cerebral cortex that is responsible for receiving, processing, and interpreting visual information (Bailey, 2019). The occipital lobes are located at the posterior region in the cerebral process and are the main center for processing visual information. In addition to them, posterior portions of the temporal lobes and parietal lobes also take part in visual perception

Part 2

The cognitive process of attention and difference between divided and selective attention

The ability to pick and focus on relevant stimuli is known as attention. Attention is a cognitive process that enables individuals to position themselves towards a relevant stimulus and therefore respond to it effectively. The cognitive capabilities are an important function in human life. Selective attention is the ability to select one stimulus from many others, and focusing on it without being distracted, and divided attention is the ability to process more than two responses simultaneously, also known as multi-tasking. Selective attention is aimed at focusing on a single activity, while divided attention is used to focus on more than two tasks simultaneously.

Dichotic listening

Dichotic listening refers to the listening of different acoustic events that are presented to both ears simultaneously. Dichotic listening tests entail delivering different stimuli such as sentences and words to the ears simultaneously. The dichotic simulation then develops a conflict between both ears.

Describe the areas of the brain that are responsible for attention

There is no specific attention center on the brain as the ability to maintain focus depends on the widespread network of regions in the brain that collectively makes up the attentional system in the brain. The system is closely interfaced with one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions to help them work more efficiently. The attentional system includes various regions that are located in each lobe in the brain. The specific set of regions are activated when paying attention depends on the kind of information that is being processed. Neuromodulators such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine play a critical role in attention as each is aimed at making sure that one can pay attention without unwanted distractions (“The Neurochemistry of Focus”, 2020). The acetylcholine is an essential neurochemical that enhances attention by regulating neural activities in the parietal, prefrontal regions of the brain. Dopamine is neurotransmitters found in the cells at the brainstem that help to balance neural activities for each mental task. Norepinephrine is a chemical that helps in wakefulness, and alertness and is synthesized within the locus coeruleus in the brainstem

References

Bailey, R. (2019). Occipital Lobes and Visual Perception. ThoughtCo. Retrieved 14 March 2020, from https://www.thoughtco.com/occipital-lobes-anatomy-373224.

CogniFit. Perception- Cognitive ability CogniFit. (2020). Retrieved 14 March 2020, from https://www.cognifit.com/perception.

The Neurochemistry of Focus. PowerOnPowerOff. (2020). Retrieved 14 March 2020, from https://poweronpoweroff.com/blogs/longform/the-neurochemistry-of-focus.