In an experiment by McKay (1973), people shadowed ambiguous sentences like They threw stones towards the bank”, while words like “money” or “river” were presented on the unattended channel. In a subsequent recognition test, they were more likely to pick as familiar a sentence whose meaning was related to the word that had been presented on the unattended channel. This finding was interpreted as evidence for:

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In this question, we are considering an experiment by McKay (1973) where participants shadowed ambiguous sentences such as 'They threw stones towards the bank' while words like 'money' or 'river' appeared on an unattended channel. Later, in a recognition test, participants tended to endorse as familiar a sentence whose meaning related to the word that had been presented on the unattended channel. This pattern points to how semantic information from the unattended input influenced memory and recognition, even though it was not consciously attended to.

Option 1: 'An early-selection theory of attention.' Early-selection theories posit that only information that passes a perceptual filter and reaches awareness is processed semantically. If this were the case, unattended words like 'money' or 'river' should not influence recognition of sentences based on their meaning, because semantic processing would be blocked before deeper analysis. The McKay finding challenges this, since semantic relations from unattended content affected recognition, suggesting processing beyond simple perceptual filtering.

Option 2: 'A capacity theory of attention.' Capacity theories describe attention in terms of a limited pool of processing resources that can be allocated. While compatible with some interpretations of how unattended information might be processed under high load, the specific McKay result emphasizes semantic processing of unattended input rather than a general resource limitation, making this choice less direct as an explanation for the observed semantic integration.

Option 3: 'A filter theory of attention.' Filter theories typically specify a selection mechanism that filters information based on physical features or simple cues before deeper processing. The McKay result indicates that unattended semantic content influenced later recognition, which a strict filter would not predict if the unattended content were blocked from semantic processing. Thus this option mischaracterizes the mechanism implied by the findings.

Option 4: 'A late-selection theory of attention.' Late-selection theories propose that all incoming information is processed semantically to some extent and that selection into awareness occurs at a later stage, based on meaning or relevance. The McKay study, showing that the meaning of unattended words biased recognition of related sentences, aligns with this view by demonstrating semantic processing of unattended input prior to conscious selection, thereby supporting a late-selection account.

Overall, the key takeaway is that the unattended channel was not simply ignored at an early perceptual stage; instead, its meaning was processed and could influence subsequent recognition, which is best captured by a late-selection interpretation.

PSYC20007_2025_SM2 Supplementary or Special Exam: Cognitive Psychology (PSYC20007_2025_SM2)- Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

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