Donald Broadbent
Donald Eric Broadbent (born May 6, 1926 in Birmingham , † April 10, 1993 in Oxford ) was a British psychologist .
Life
After studying at the University of Cambridge , he became director of the Applied Psychology Research Unit there in 1958 . In 1971 Broadbent was elected to the National Academy of Sciences . In 1974 he became a Fellow of Wolfson College at Oxford University .
Broadbent was primarily concerned with attention and memory .
theory
His filter theory of attention (1958), in which he postulated an early bottleneck in a strictly serial, capacity-limited processing system (limited-capacity-channel) , became particularly important . Based on physical stimulus characteristics, a selection is made as to which stimuli, which simultaneously reach a sensory memory, are made accessible for further processing. The forwarding takes place according to the all-or-nothing principle. Unprocessed stimuli remained in the sensory memory for a certain time for possible later access. Broadbent relied on Welford's (1952) concept of the psychological refractory period .
Due to some explanatory gaps, other researchers, such as Anne Treisman (Attenuationstheorie; Selective attention in man . British Medical Bulletin 20 (1964) 12-16) or Deutsch & Deutsch (Theory of late selection; Attention: Some theoretical considerations . Psychological Review 70 (1963 ) 80-90), based on Broadbents considerations, alternative models of stimulus selection and attention allocation. Broadbent's theory, however, can be seen as fundamental to all later theorizations.
See also:
Works
- Perception and communication . Original edition, Pergamon Press, Oxford a. a. 1958, ISBN 0-08-009090-7 ; and: 3rd edition, reprint, Pergamon Press, Oxford a. a. 1969, ISBN = as above. (each English)
- Decision and stress . Original edition, Academic Press, London a. a. 1971, ISBN 0-12-135550-0 ; and: 3rd edition, reprint, Academic Press, London a. a. 1985; ISBN = as above. (each English)
- In defense of empirical psychology . Original edition, Methuen young books, London 1973 (= Methuen's manuals of modern psychology), ISBN 0-416-76780-X . (engl.)
literature
- John R. Anderson : Cognitive Psychology . 3rd, revised. and updated edition, spectrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg u. a. 2001 (= spectrum textbook), ISBN 3-8274-1024-X . (German translation; English original title: Cognitive psychology and its implications )
- Jochen Müsseler (Ed.): General Psychology . 1st edition, Spectrum Academic Publishing House, Heidelberg u. a. 2002, ISBN 3-8274-1128-9 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Broadbent, Donald |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Broadbent, Donald Eric (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British psychologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 6, 1926 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Birmingham |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 10, 1993 |
| Place of death | Oxford |