Attention, Sensation, Perception, Memory, Forgetting

1. Psychology
Attention and Memory
B.Ed. 2015-16
M.Vijayalakshmi
Assistant Professor

2. Unit IV
Attention and Memory

3. Attention: Meaning, nature, distraction,
inattention, divided attention and span
of attention – determinants of attention
– Sensation and Perception – Law of
perception: Errors in perception (illusion
and Hallucination) – Concept Formation:
types and theories – Memory: meaning,
types of memory, Storage system of
memory and strategies for improving
memory – Forgetting: meaning, causes,
theory of forgetting – Memory disorder.

4. Meaning of Attention
• “Act of directing one’s thought” towards a
particular act or object
• Concentration or focusing of consciousness
upon one object
• Military command – prepares a soldier for an
action
-Woodworth

5. Definition of Attention
• Attention is the process of getting an object
of thought clearly before the mind
-Ross (1951)
• Process which compels the individual to
select some particular stimulus according to
his interest and attitude out of the
multiplicity of stimuli present in the
environment
-Sharma R. N. (1967)

6. Characteristics
• Selective
• Direction of mental activity – knowing,
feeling and willing
• Shifting
• Attracted by new things
• Makes clear in our consciousness the object
which we attend to
• Arouses the individual to attend the
particular objects
• Creates a attentive attitude of the individual

7. Types of Attention
Attention
Non-
volitional
Enforced Spontaneous
Volitional
Implicit Explicit

8. • Attention
–Non-volitional
• Enforced –(sustained by instincts)
• Spontaneous -(sustained by a sentiment)
–Volitional
• Implicit -(obtained by a single act of will)
• Explicit -(obtained by repeated acts of will)

9. Distraction
• Kind of stimulus which distracts our
attention from the objects which we are
focusing
• Example:
-Sound of music played on streets –
disturbs – attention of the students in a
classroom

10. Causes of Distraction
• Abnormal student strength
• Defective lighting
• Abnormal temperature in class
rooms
• Uncomfortable seats

11. Methods of Eliminating Distraction
• Much emphasis and importance must be
given to the task
• Create favourable situation
• Make lesson interesting
• Training in concentration
• Attention-distracting objects removed from
the neighbourhood
• Encounter same type of distraction everyday
– used to them and start ignoring it

12. Inattention
• The absence of attention
• Its outward signs –
• The student is careless about the object which
of primary attention
• Movement of students’ eyes are random and
not fixed
• Seems to be perplexed – does not understand
and receive clear impressions
• Seems to be restless and writhing his body

13. Causes of Inattention
Lack of
interest or
need
Fatigue
Presence
of
distraction
Lack of
Motivation

14. Types of Inattention
Absolute
Inattention
Partial
Inattention

15. Division of Attention
• If a person concentrates on two works
simultaneously
• Two physical work at a time
• One physical work and one mental work
at a time
• Develop these skills by constant practice

16. Span of Attention
• Span means the number of objects or events
one individual can attend to at a given time
• Number of things one can attend to at any
time
• It is a threshold to perceive at a glance at a
given duration of exposure
• At a glance how many letters, digits one can
see and reproduce
• Amount of information which can be
received from a complex stimulus in a single
moment

18. Measured by Tachistoscope

19. • Individual difference exists
• Human sense organ can perceive
only limited objects or events at a
time
• Employed by police and transport
departments – giving four digits
numbers to motor vehicles

20. Determinants of Attention
Objective/External factors Subjective/Internal factors
Stimulus Instincts
Size Interest
Intensity Need
Change Mental set
Contrast Mood
Novelty Physiological condition
Movement Habit
Repetition Heredity
Systematic form

21. Contrast

22. Sensation
• Sense organs - Gateways of knowledge
• Knowledge is realized through sense
organs
• Immediate result of sense organ being
acted upon by appropriate stimuli
• Derived from the stimulation of the
sense organs or receptors

23. Name of the
sense organ
Name of the sense Sensation
Eyes Visual sense Vision
Ears Auditory sense Hearing
Nose Olfactory sense Smell
Tongue Gustatory sense Taste
Skin Tactile sense Touch

27. Perception
• Perception = Sensation + Meaningful
Interpretation
• Process of getting to know objects and
objective facts by the use of the senses
-R.S. Woodworth and D.G. Marquis

28. Characteristics
• Meaningful
• Selective
• Our past experience determines the nature of
perception
• Synthetic activity
• Analysis in perception
• Analysis and synthesis occur at the same time
• Process of integration takes place

30. Law of Perceptual Organization

33. Figure and Ground Relationship

34. Determinants of Perception
• External Factors
i. Proximity
ii. Similarity
iii. Continuity
iv. Closure
• Internal Factors
i. Past experiences
ii. Attitude or Mental set

35. Errors in Perception
Illusion
Hallucination

36. Illusion
• That which does not really exist
• Visual Illusion
• Auditory Illusion
• Optical Illusion – physically equal,
subjectively and psychologically unequal

37. Muller-Lyer Illusion
Optical Illusion

38. Horizontal – Vertical Illusion

43. Hallucination
• False perception
• Mirage
• Images – when not present
• Imagery – mental capacity to form
images
• Eidetic image – immediate image

48. Defining Mental Disorder

51. Meaning of Concept
• Generalized image or idea which
stands for a group of objects that
have some common characteristics
• Man, Animal, Book, Car, Tree etc. -
Concepts

52. Types of Concepts
Concepts
Simple Complex
Imaginary
Concepts of
Objects
Concepts of
Aspects
Quality Relations

53. Jerome Bruner’s classification
Conjunctive
Disjunctive
Relational

54. Concept Formation
Abstraction
Generalization
Concept Attainment

55. Gagne’s Hierarchical Learning Theory
• Signal Learning
• S-R Learning
• Chaining
• Verbal Association Learning
• Multiple Discrimination Learning
• Concept Learning
• Rule/Principle Learning
• Problem Solving

56. John Dewey’s Problem Solving
• Awareness of the Problem
• Recognition of the problem
• Collection of Data
• Formulation of Hypotheses
• Evaluation or Testing of Hypothesis
• Making of Generalization

57. Teacher’s Role
• Moderate Motivation
• Encourage Divergent Thinking
• Problem should be presented as a whole
• Level of Difficulty
• Active Manipulation
• Practice
• Incomplete Solution of Problems

58. Piaget’s
Cognitive Development Theory
• Sensory Motor Stage
- (Birth to 2 years)
• Pre-operational Stage
- (2 to 7 years)
• Concrete Operational Stage
- (7 to 11 years)
• Formal Operational Stage
- (11 years to adulthood)

59. Bruner’s Cognitive Development or
Meaning Verbal Learning Theory
1 Enactive
Representation
Motor actions and
Movements
Pre-school
Stage
2 Iconic
Representation
Sensory Images or
Mental Pictures
Childhood
Stage
3 Symbolic
Representation
Words, Symbols,
Formula
Adolescence
Stage

60. Bruner’s
Theory of Instruction 4 features
Predisposition to Learn
Structure of Knowledge
Sequence
Reinforcement

61. Concept Maps
• Lead from
“Ausubel’s Theory of Advanced Organizers”
• Novak and Gowin –
developed Concept Maps in Teaching

62. Concept Maps
It is useful in explaining the
general principles formed out of
many related ideas and also the
mutual relationships existing
between the various general
principles themselves

63. Concept Map

73. Uses of Concept Maps
• To understand:
 The relationship between the various ideas put forth in a
lesson -
 Lead to the general principles
 How the different general principles are themselves
related
• To prepare a classified summary of the ideas learnt in a
lesson -
 Hierarchical way
 Linkage
 Cross linkage
• Helps the teacher to prepare the lesson for the class
• Given as a follow up activity to pupils – Home Assignment
• Promotes Analytical thinking in students –
 Learning become meaningful and comprehensive

74. Memory - Meaning
• Layman – capacity to reproduce what is learnt
• Psychologists – Remembering
• Remembering – An active process of Mental
search
• Remembering – Retention & Retrieving
• Retention – What is learnt
• Retrieving – Retrieving it when it is required for
subsequent use

75. Remembering – 3 Stages
Learning
or
Memorizing
Retention
or
storing
Retrieving
or gaining
access to it
(Recall
or
Recognition)

76. Learning or Memorizing
Learning
Depends
on
Nature of
Learning
Material
Length or Amount
Meaningfulness
Complexity
Association
Nature of
the
Learner
Physical Condition
Intelligence
Interest/Motivation
Need
Learning
Methods
Rote Learning/Meaningful Learning
Spaced/Massed Learning
Whole/Part Learning
Associative Learning

77. Kinds of Memory
Incidental or
Intentional
Memory
Vivid or
Indistinct
Memory
Observational
or Rote
Memory

81. The Multi-store Model

88. Strategies for Improving Memory
• Have the desire or motivation to learn
• Meaningful material is learnt quickly and
retained longer
• Follow SQ3R method (Survey, Questioning,
Recite, Repeat ad and Review)
• Spacing the learning periods
• Recitation
• Over-learning

89. • Rhymes and logical associations
• Mnemonic devices – VIBGYOR
• Multisensory learning
• Periodical rest and sleep immediately after
learning – improves retention
• Subjects of study – arranged
• Teacher – Instruction Style – Concept Maps

90. Remembering & Forgetting

98. MEMORY DISORDERS
• Result of damage to neuro-anatomical
structures that hinders the storage, retention
and recollection of memories
• Progressive including Alzheimer’s disease
• Immediate including disorders from head
injury

99. Memory
Disorders
Common
Memory Lapses
Memory Slip
Alcohol-related
Dementia
Mental Blocks
Long-term
Memory Loss
Dementia
Alzheimer’s
Disease
Vascular
Dementia
Post-traumatic
Memory Loss

103. Role of Teacher in
Teaching and Learning
Teacher as
a
Model
Teacher as
a
Transmitter
of
knowledge
Teacher as
a
Facilitator
of
Knowledge
Teacher as
a
Negotiator
Teacher as
a
Co-Learner

104. Credit to the Sources
Images are taken from
INTERNET Sources

105. THANK
YOU