shadowing task
Summary
A shadowing task is a dichotic listening method in which a person repeats aloud the message in one ear while a different message plays in the other. It studies selective attention: people usually notice physical features of the ignored message but little of its meaning, though some notice their own name.
Detail
Meaning: In a shadowing task, a participant wears headphones and repeats aloud, as it is heard, the message played to one ear (the attended channel) while a different message plays in the other ear. The repeating keeps attention on one channel, so researchers can test what still gets processed from the unattended one.
On the MCAT: Passages describe Cherry's cocktail party experiments or variants. The typical result is that participants can report physical features of the unattended message, such as a change in pitch or the speaker's sex, but usually cannot report its meaning or a switch in language. Some notice their own name. Use the results to compare models. Broadbent's filter model (early selection) blocks the unattended channel on physical features before meaning is analyzed. Treisman's attenuation model weakens that channel instead, so personally relevant words can still get through. Deutsch and Deutsch's late selection model says meaning is analyzed before selection.
Common confusion: Students read the results as showing the unattended ear is completely ignored. Physical features, and sometimes meaningful words, are detected, which a strict early filter cannot explain. Also, shadowing tests selective attention, not divided attention.
Sources
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychology
Written for the MCAT and checked before it was published. For study reference only. Spotted an error? Let us know.