May I have your attention please?

The behaviour that people exhibit often takes place automatically. This is principally the case with learned behaviours such as walking, driving and swimming. In these situations you can easily do other things in addition to the learned behaviours, for example listening to music while you are driving or talking to your partner while you are walking. However, attention and consciousness can affect human behaviour. For example, if you are driving a car in a new city with lots of cars and traffic lights, driving becomes less automatic. You have to devote all your attention to the more difficult task so you need to turn off the music or stop the conversation with your partner.

In today’s life there is so many information available which makes it impossible to perceive all the information we receive. The brain simply cannot process all the information at the same time. Therefore, our brain needs to filter the information we would like to focus on and ignore the rest.

Please watch the following video before continue reading:

So, did you see the gorilla? If yes, did you also notice the certain changing colour or the player on the black team leaving the game? This video is a very good example of selective attention. Another example of selective attention is the cocktail effect. Imagine, you are talking with somebody in a noisy environment, for instance in a pub. Even though you are in an environment with surrounding noise such as voices of other people, you are able to focus your listening attention to the speech of the one person you are having a conversation with.

As described earlier, not only attention affects human behaviour but also consciousness influences the behaviour of human beings. I will give you a little task concerning this topic: take a sheet of paper and write down those things you are thinking of right now, but do NOT think about a white bear. I am sure you cannot think of anything else than the white bear, am I right?

In conclusion, when additional tasks demand too much attention and people become too conscious, it may affect human behaviour. Next blog I will show you how attention and consciousness can influence the behaviour of children.

I spy with my little eye…

“Cognitive science is hard to define but you recognize it when you see it.” That’s where we ended last blog and what I want to show you at the moment. How does a perception in the brain occurs? People perceive visual components as wholes which in some cases may lead to optical illusions. These illusions are all determined by the brain.

To illustrate the function of the brain in relation to perception, I will show you some very easy examples.

What about this one: is the picture in the front an old man with glasses or just a tiny little mouse? 

Probably you see a man in the upper row and a mouse in the second row. This has all to do with the principle of similarity. Our brain interprets similar items as a group which explains that you can see two different things in one picture. 

Another one: What do you see? Three circles with a notch or a triangle with a circle at every corner?

  

The most of you will see a triangle which can be explained with the principle of closure. Our eyes just see three circles with a notch but our brain automatically add missing components to complete a larger pattern.

Let’s try another one: What do you see?

Are you in love with somebody that you would very like to kiss? Then I am sure you see two faces looking at each other. Or are you maybe in the middle of a removal or are you redecorating your room? That is a beautiful vase you see over there, isn’t it?

This illusion is called the Rubin Vase illusion. Our brain must first determine the background of the picture to interpret the image. Hereby, the context where you are living in at the moment determines your interpretation of the picture.

The last illusion has to do with face perception. Do you think the picture below shows a round or a hollow face?

Maybe you would not expect it, but the above face is hollow. Therefore, this illusion is called the Hollow Face illusion. That we perceive the face as a round face can be explained by the fact that humans are accustomed that faces are round.

If I have not convinced you about the fact that the picture above shows a hollow face, watch this video and you will be amazed!

As you have seen in this blog, the brain has a major impact on what we perceive and how we behave, both consciously and unconsciously. So what is attention and what is it to be conscious? I will show you next blog!

An ordinary dog that became famous…

Let’s just continue where we have ended..

Our brain is the central element of everything we do. Before we are able to decide what the best way is to use digital media for marketing purposes, we should have some insights in human cognition. Why do people behave as they behave? An important item that should be taken into account for understanding human behaviour is the process of learning.

It all started with an experiment of Ivan Pavlov in 1927. Firstly, Pavlov was ringing a bell in front of a dog. Because the bell is a neutral stimulus for dogs, the dog didn’t respond to the sound. While confronting the dog with only food, Pavlov was measuring the amount of salivation in response to the food. As the experiment continued, Pavlov rang a bell as he presented the food. Again, he noted a salivary response. Finally, by only ringing the bell, Pavlov observed the same response as having presented food to the dogs; the dog was salivating. The salivating response by hearing the bell is called a conditioned response. The dog had learned to associate the bell with food and responded by salivating.

Just think about your own experiences with dogs. When I think about my own experiences with my dog, which probably sounds very familiar to others who have dogs, he already started barking and wagging his tail by only grabbing his belt!

Now you are maybe wondering, if I am going to deal with human beings and their behaviour, why I am showing you an experiment with a dog. The answer is that the same principles of behaviourism that apply to higher order animals also apply to us humans. We are all truly born to learn. A good example is that human beings cry as a response of pain. This is what it’s called an unconditioned response because this response is not learnt; it is simply inborn. Children won’t cry if they go to the doctor for the first time and see a needle. The needle is, just like the bell in Pavlov’s experiment, a neutral stimulus. However, when children go to the doctor for their second syringe, they will already start crying when they only see the doctor or the needle.

Furthermore, during the lecture of communication theory last Monday, our professor gave another, actually quite funny, example that relates to Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiment. He said that when students hear the word “finally” or any word related to that word during a lecture, they all close their books and grab their bags. And this is very recognizable if I may say! So, a suggestion for teachers: “do not start using such words or phrases before you are sure you have told everything you wanted to tell.” J

In conclusion and as I already mentioned earlier, we are all truly born to learn, both consciously and unconsciously.

This is just a very small part of what cognitive science covers. As our professor ones said during one of our lectures: “cognitive science is hard to define but you recognize it when you see it.” And that is exactly what I want to show you next blog!

Welcome!

Hi guys! I have started blogging as you can see; my first blog is available online! After the first lecture of ‘Business Information Technology’ at Tilburg University, everything was quite unclear to me and so far it still is a big surprise what to expect the coming weeks but I’m excited!

The upcoming 10 to 15 weeks I will write about interesting topics that focus on my study: Business Communication and Digital Media.

During my internship in Oslo in 2008, I wrote many posts on a blog for my friends and family in the Netherlands for half a year. I loved this way of sharing my experiences and adventures with everyone who was interested. In that period, I also realized that writing was actually quite fun! Especially if people posted enthusiastic messages after reading my blog! So guys, leaving a message is allowed and more than welcome! J

Wondering what to expect? The title of my blog actually indicates already a part of what I will be writing about in the upcoming weeks: “It all starts with your brain..”

In the world of business communication, a major item is convincing people. Experts in this field are constantly studying the consumer behaviour of people: What motivates people? Why do they make certain choices? In order to gain insight into this item of business communication, it is important to know how our brain influences the choices we make and the behaviour we exhibit.

Curious about what's coming next? Keep in touch through twitter, facebook, hyves, e-mail or what else and I will see you next blog!