Donald Broadbent
Encyclopedia
Donald Eric Broadbent FRS(Birmingham
, May 6, 1926–April 10, 1993) was an influential English experimental psychologist
. His career and his research work bridged the gap between the pre-Second World War approach of Sir Frederic Bartlett
and its wartime development into applied psychology, and what from the late 1960s became known as cognitive psychology
.
Educated at the University of Cambridge
, in 1958 he became director of the Applied Psychology Research Unit
which had been set up there by the UK Medical Research Council
on Bartlett's persuasion in 1944. Although much of the work of the APRU was directed at practical issues of military or industrial significance, Broadbent rapidly became well known for his theoretical work. His theories of selective attention and short-term memory
were developed as digital computers were beginning to become available to the academic community, and were among the first to use computer analogies to make a serious contribution to the analysis of human cognition. They were combined to form what became known as the "single channel hypothesis". His Filter Model proposed that the physical characteristics (e.g., pitch, loudness) of an auditorily presented message were used to focus attention to only a single message. Broadbent's Filter model is referred to as an early selection model because irrelevant messages are filtered out before the stimulus information is processed for meaning. These and other theories were brought together in his 1958 book "Perception and Communication" which remains one of the classic texts of cognitive psychology. In 1974 Broadbent became a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford
and returned to applied problems, developing new ideas about implicit learning
from consideration of human performance in complex industrial processes along with his colleague Dianne Berry.
(1890) and later the Atkinson & Shiffrin's 'multi-store' memory model (1968). This filter functions together with a buffer, and enables the subject to handle two kinds of stimuli, presented at the same time. One of the inputs is allowed through the filter, while the other is waiting in the buffer for later processing. The filter prevents overloading of the limited capacity mechanism beyond the filter, which is the short-term memory
. Broadbent comes up with the theory based on data from an experiment where three pairs of different digits are presented simultaneously, three digits in one ear and three in the other. Most participants recalled the digits ear by ear, rather than pair by pair. Thus, if 496 were presented to one ear and 852 to the other, the recall would be 496852 rather than 489562.
The theory has difficulties explaining the famous cocktail party effect
of the British scientist Colin Cherry
, who is trying to explain how we are able to focus our attention towards the stimuli
which we find most interesting.
A lecture in Broadbent's honour is given at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society
.
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, May 6, 1926–April 10, 1993) was an influential English experimental psychologist
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
. His career and his research work bridged the gap between the pre-Second World War approach of Sir Frederic Bartlett
Frederic Bartlett
Sir Frederic Charles Bartlett FRS was a British psychologist and the first professor of experimental psychology at the University of Cambridge. He was one of the forerunners of cognitive psychology...
and its wartime development into applied psychology, and what from the late 1960s became known as cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology exploring internal mental processes.It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems.Cognitive psychology differs from previous psychological approaches in two key ways....
.
Educated at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, in 1958 he became director of the Applied Psychology Research Unit
Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
The ' is a branch of the UK Medical Research Council, based in Cambridge, England. The CBSU is a world-leading centre for cognitive neuroscience, with a mission to improve human health by understanding and enhancing cognition and behaviour in health, disease and disorder...
which had been set up there by the UK Medical Research Council
Medical Research Council (UK)
The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
on Bartlett's persuasion in 1944. Although much of the work of the APRU was directed at practical issues of military or industrial significance, Broadbent rapidly became well known for his theoretical work. His theories of selective attention and short-term memory
Short-term memory
Short-term memory is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state for a short period of time. The duration of short-term memory is believed to be in the order of seconds. A commonly cited capacity is 7 ± 2 elements...
were developed as digital computers were beginning to become available to the academic community, and were among the first to use computer analogies to make a serious contribution to the analysis of human cognition. They were combined to form what became known as the "single channel hypothesis". His Filter Model proposed that the physical characteristics (e.g., pitch, loudness) of an auditorily presented message were used to focus attention to only a single message. Broadbent's Filter model is referred to as an early selection model because irrelevant messages are filtered out before the stimulus information is processed for meaning. These and other theories were brought together in his 1958 book "Perception and Communication" which remains one of the classic texts of cognitive psychology. In 1974 Broadbent became a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with over sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and junior research fellows. It caters to a wide range of...
and returned to applied problems, developing new ideas about implicit learning
Implicit learning
Implicit learning is learning of complex information in an incidental manner, without awareness of what has been learned. It may require a certain minimal amount of attention and may depend on attentional and working memory mechanisms...
from consideration of human performance in complex industrial processes along with his colleague Dianne Berry.
Broadbent's Filter Model
Accounts for a theoretical filter device, which is located in between the incoming sensory register, and the short-term memory storage. His theory is based upon the multi-storage paradigm of William JamesWilliam James
William James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a physician. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism...
(1890) and later the Atkinson & Shiffrin's 'multi-store' memory model (1968). This filter functions together with a buffer, and enables the subject to handle two kinds of stimuli, presented at the same time. One of the inputs is allowed through the filter, while the other is waiting in the buffer for later processing. The filter prevents overloading of the limited capacity mechanism beyond the filter, which is the short-term memory
Short-term memory
Short-term memory is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state for a short period of time. The duration of short-term memory is believed to be in the order of seconds. A commonly cited capacity is 7 ± 2 elements...
. Broadbent comes up with the theory based on data from an experiment where three pairs of different digits are presented simultaneously, three digits in one ear and three in the other. Most participants recalled the digits ear by ear, rather than pair by pair. Thus, if 496 were presented to one ear and 852 to the other, the recall would be 496852 rather than 489562.
The theory has difficulties explaining the famous cocktail party effect
Cocktail party effect
The cocktail party effect describes the ability to focus one's listening attention on a single talker among a mixture of conversations and background noises, ignoring other conversations. The effect enables most people to talk in a noisy place...
of the British scientist Colin Cherry
Colin Cherry
Edward Colin Cherry was a British cognitive scientist whose main contributions were in focused auditory attention, specifically regarding the cocktail party problem. This concerns the problem of following only one conversation while many other conversations are going on around us...
, who is trying to explain how we are able to focus our attention towards the stimuli
Stimulus (physiology)
In physiology, a stimulus is a detectable change in the internal or external environment. The ability of an organism or organ to respond to external stimuli is called sensitivity....
which we find most interesting.
A lecture in Broadbent's honour is given at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society
British Psychological Society
The British Psychological Society is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. The BPS is also a Registered Charity and, along with advantages, this also imposes certain constraints on what the society can and cannot do...
.