Question

Differentiate between Filter theory and Filter attenuation theory of attention with an example.

Answer 1

Answer:

Filter theory is a version of the filter theory of attention proposing that unattended messages are attenuated (i.e., processed weakly) but not entirely blocked from further processing.

Filter attenuation

A high attenuation rate helps a filter distinguish between signals of similar frequency and is usually a desirable feature. The attenuation rate is also related to the order of a filter. For a low-pass or a high-pass filter, the attenuation rate will be –20 times the filter's order, in dB/decade.

Explanation:

Attenuation theory is a model of selective attention proposed by Anne Treisman, and can be seen as a revision of Donald Broadbent's filter model. Treisman proposed attenuation theory as a means to explain how unattended stimuli sometimes came to be processed in a more rigorous manner than what Broadbent's filter model could account for.[1] As a result, attenuation theory added layers of sophistication to Broadbent's original idea of how selective attention might operate: claiming that instead of a filter which barred unattended inputs from ever entering awareness, it was a process of attenuation.[2] Thus, the attenuation of unattended stimuli would make it difficult, but not impossible to extract meaningful content from irrelevant inputs, so long as stimuli still possessed sufficient "strength" after attenuation to make it through a hierarchical analysis process.