Neisser
Neisser, Ulric
Influenced by
Attention
Attention is most often referred to as the cognitive capacity to focus on certain aspects of our perception , while (at least temporarily) disregarding information about other parts of our perceptual environment. In practice, the 'disregarded' items are probably still being cognitively-processed, even though we may not be consciously aware of it. A good example of this is the 'cocktail party effect': we may choose to focus on conversation with one other person in a busy party, but if someone in a 'disregarded' conversation nearby mentions our name, we will frequently notice it and look round. This shows that even 'unattended' material is still being processed to some extent. In evolutionary terms, it would be rather useful for our perceptual system to let us know that a sabre-toothed tiger was bounding towards us, intent on making us its next meal, while we were concentrating on lighting the fire to roast a bit of mammoth.
He has been especially interested in memory for life events and in natural settings (Memory Observed , 1982, 2000) and in false or misleading memories (he is on the Advisory Board of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation) as well as in the role of memories in defining the self. His own interests in intelligence research focus on individual and group differences in test scores, and on the social significance of those differences.
Written by: Member of the Course Team
Ulric Neisser was born in Kiel, Germany in 1928. He emigrated to the United States with his parents three years later.
His edited book The Rising Curve (1998) explores various possible causes of the secular worldwide ri se in IQ scores (the 'Flynn Effect') as well as of the large rise in African-American school achievement scores that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Neisser is presently co-chair of the Committee on Educational Excellence and Testing Equity of the US National Research Council.
He began his studies at Harvard, majoring in Physics originally, but switched to Psychology. He rece ived his PhD from Harvard in 1956.
Ulric Neisser is best known for his 1967 book Cognitive Psychology, which named and defined that fie ld, as well as for many experimental studies of attention and memory. In his later writings he became critical of the methodology of much cognitive psychology, faulting it for being 'ecologically invalid'.
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