Question
Describe briefly multimode theory.
Solution
Multimode theory was developed by Johnston and Heinz (1978). This theory believes that attention is a flexible system that allows selection of a stimulus over others at three stages. At stage one the sensory representations (e.g., visual images) of stimuli are constructed; at stage two the semantic representations (e.g., names of objects) are constructed; and at stage three the sensory and semantic representations enter the consciousness. It is also suggested that more processing requires more mental effort. When the messages are selected on the basis of stage one processing (early selection), less mental effort is required than when the selection is based on stage three processing (late selection).
