Rodger works in the stationary department of a store and is often asked where specific items (e.g. pens, pencils, rulers) are located. One day while eating dinner at a busy restaurant, he momentarily loses focus of his conversation as he overhears another customer ask for a pen. How can this phenomenon best be explained?

Rodger works in the stationary department of a store and is often asked where specific items (e.g. pens, pencils, rulers) are located. One day while eating dinner at a busy restaurant, he momentarily loses focus of his conversation as he overhears another customer ask for a pen. How can this phenomenon best be explained?




A)
The word pen was consciously attended to by the spotlight model of attention.
B)
He was talking to his friend who has a deep voice, and a woman said the word pen.
C)
The word pen broke through Triesman's dual filter model of attention.
D)
The word pen broke through Broadbent's single filter model of attention.



Answer: C