Presented By: Veronica Comia-Melo, RMT, MBA

Memory is incredibly
important for productivity in
the workplace, but have you
ever wondered how it actually
works? Its a complicated
process that goes through
many steps, and it involves
many parts of your brain
being used for a bunch of
different types of memory.

THE STROOP EFFECT

THE STROOP EFFECT

THE STROOP EFFECT

What causes the Stroop Effect?

Overlearned name that word
reading response competes
with unfamiliar name that ink
task.
The effect is related to the ability of most
people to read words more quickly and
automatically than they can name colors.
If a word is displayed in a color different
from the color it actually names.
John Ridley Stroop

 Directed attention - manage our thoughts by

inhibiting one response in order to say or do
something else.
Allows us to voluntarily manage the focus of
our thoughts. It is useful in our effort to remain
effective, productive, clearheaded and helpful.
We can use it to inhibit the power of certain
features of the immediate physical and social
environment, as well as internal distractions,
so as to allow consideration of less salient but
nonetheless valued information.

VISUAL SEARCH
Looking for a target in a display containing
distracting elements.
Target: The Goal of Visual Search
Distractor: Any stimulus other than the target
Set Size: The no. of items in a visual display

 The brain processes

information about an
objects importance in two
ways: bottom-up and
top-down.
In bottom-up processing, the brain weighs
an objects importance based on its inherent
characteristics.
Greater importance is assigned to features
that signify something noteworthy, such as
sudden movements, unusual color patterns,
and strange shapes.

 In top-down processing, the brain weighs an

objects importance based on previous
experience for instance, discounting brightly
colored shirts in a crowded train while looking
for the door.
Researchers found bottom-up processes are
faster than the more effort-intensive top-down
ones.

SPATIAL RESOLUTION
& ATTENTION
In order to scrutinize a particular item, for
example, to report its identity and pick out its
features and actions, it is first necessary to
individuate it.
This individuation is one of the core operations
of attention, and it plays many roles in perception.
For example, individuation of an item is necessary
in order to encode its location and track its
position over time.

SPATIAL RESOLUTION
& ATTENTION

CHANGE BLINDNESS &

SELECTIVE ATTENTION
Change blindness is a surprising perceptual
phenomenon that occurs when a change in a
visual stimulus is introduced and the observer
does not notice it.
For example, observers often fail to notice major
differences introduced into an image while it
flickers and on again. People's poor ability to
detect changes has been argued to reflect
fundamental limitations of human attention.

CHANGE BLINDNESS &

SELECTIVE ATTENTION
Selective Attention:
In any busy scene, be it a classroom or a freeway,
its virtually impossible to note everything at once.
What a person pays attention to in these
circumstances is what they select to pay attention
to.
Selected attention can then be viewed as the
process by which people find something upon
which to concentrate, and the level of
concentration they can continue to exert as
distractions arise.

How to Improve Attention to Detail

1. Get organized. You will need to
have organization in your life to
even have a hope of paying
attention to the small things. This
means having organization in your
work or school life, keeping track of
appointments and tasks that need
to be accomplished so that you
aren't surprised when it's time to
turn them in.

How to Improve Attention to Detail

2. Make lists. Lists are one really
useful way to be organized and to
make sure that you know when and
how everything needs to come
together. You'll be less likely to lose
track of the details when you have
them written out and kept
somewhere that you see every day

How to Improve Attention to Detail

3. Keep to a specific schedule. If
you're running around willy nilly
and each day is a different mess of
times and items, try to sort it into a
routine that follows that same
general rhythm. Your brain will be
quicker to notice when you've
dropped the ball on a detail than
when each day is a hodgepodge of
different things.

How to Improve Attention to Detail

4. Limit distractions. Distractions
come in a variety of forms: your
family, your friends, that annoying
coworker who won't stop talking,
everything ever on the internet,
even being hungry. When you're
distracted and you're trying to pay
attention to the details of a project
or your homework, you're not going
to be able to recall things as easily
and you're more likely to forget the
details.

How to Improve Attention to Detail

5. Don't multitask. Multitasking
spreads your attention out over a
variety of items instead of focusing
it onto one specific item, which
means that you end up unable to
give full attention to each item and
you won't be able to get all the
details in order.

How to Improve Attention to Detail

6. Get exercise. Exercise helps
improve your memory and your
concentration abilities while also
being good for your whole body. To
help improve your attention to the
details and to keep your memory
strong, you'll want to engage in at
least 30 minutes of exercise each
day.

How to Improve Attention to Detail

7. Take breaks. A good way to
keep your brain sharp and willing to
focus on the smaller details is to
allow it to take breaks. Make sure
that you schedule them around the
same time each day and try for 10
to 15 minutes each. This will give
your brain a chance to relax in time
for the next project.

Using Attention Improving Exercises

1.
Practice
using
memory
cards. There are good ways to
practice paying attention to the
details so that your brain stays
sharp and engaged. One of these
ways is by using memory cards.
You'll gather a group of pairs (start
small, maybe 8-10 pairs) and place
them face side down. Flip one over,
look at it, and turn it face side down
once more. Each time you find a
pair, remove it from the game.

Using Attention Improving Exercises

2. Use "what's wrong with this
picture" puzzles. These ones are
in any children's magazine ever.
The child-level ones are pretty
easy, but you can easily find ones
that are for an older set and are
more difficult. The more you
practice these puzzles the better
you'll find that you are paying
attention to other details.

Using Attention Improving Exercises

3.
Hone
your
math
skills. Mathematics are a subject
that require a lot of attention to
detail (after all, if you get one
number wrong the whole answer
ends up being wrong) and are a
great way to improve your attention
to detail.

Using Attention Improving Exercises

4. Memorize an image. Look
closely at a scene (you can do this
anywhere: at work, on the bus, at a
coffee shop) and, closing your
eyes, recall as many details about
the scene as you possibly can. The
more you practice the better and
more attentive to the details you'll
become.

Using Attention Improving Exercises

5. Learn to meditate. Meditation is
something that is incredibly useful
for a wide variety of things. It can
help you with your physical health,
your mental health, and it can help
you with your memory and your
attention to detail, by calming your
mind and by reducing your stress
(it helps put your brain on more
positive neuro-pathways).