4.7 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attention | 5/5 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T11:04:13.138266+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Filter === Broadbent's Filter Model of Attention proposed that sensory information is briefly held in a pre-attentive store, and a filter selects input based on simple physical characteristics (e.g., location, pitch). Selected information passes into a limited capacity processing system, while unattended inputs are blocked and not semantically processed. This implies that information in the unattended channel does not reach meaning-level analysis, and that shifting the filter between channels requires time. Experiments by Gray and Wedderburn and subsequent work by Anne Treisman challenged this strict early filter model, leading to refinements. In Treisman’s attenuation model, unattended inputs are not completely blocked; instead, they are attenuated and can be processed to some extent, especially if they are highly salient (e.g., a person’s own name). Deutsch and Deutsch later proposed a late selection model in which all inputs are processed semantically, and selection occurs at the point of response or conscious access. In this view, the ‘‘attentional bottleneck’’ occurs late, after semantic analysis.
=== Selection === Debates between early-selection and late-selection models centered on whether unattended information is processed semantically. Early-selection models (e.g., Broadbent, Treisman) posit that attention acts before full semantic analysis, whereas late-selection models (e.g., Deutsch & Deutsch) posit that semantic analysis occurs in parallel, with attention determining which representations reach awareness or guide behavior. Nilli Lavie’s perceptual load theory offered a synthesis: under high perceptual load, processing capacity is exhausted by relevant stimuli, producing early selection; under low load, excess capacity spills over to irrelevant stimuli, producing late-selection-like effects.
=== Spotlight === The spotlight model conceptualizes attention as a movable “beam” that enhances processing within a limited region of the visual field. The metaphor draws on William James’s idea that attention has a focus, margin, and fringe. The focus is a region of high-resolution processing; the fringe is processed more coarsely; the margin marks the outer boundary.
=== Zoom-lens === The zoom-lens model, first introduced in 1986, extends the spotlight metaphor by allowing the size of the attended region to change. Like a camera lens, the attentional “zoom” can widen or narrow. Widening the focus distributes limited resources over a larger area, reducing processing efficiency; narrowing it concentrates resources and increases efficiency. The focus is thought to subtend a minimum of about 1° of visual angle.
== Theories ==
=== Attentional engagement === Attentional engagement theory proposes an initial pre-attentive, parallel phase in which the visual scene is segmented and analyzed, followed by selective attention that determines which information enters visual short-term memory. At the pre-attentive stage, structural descriptions of objects are created across multiple spatial scales; selective attention then “engages” with particular representations for further processing.
=== Feature integration ===
=== Perceptual load ===
== Cultural variation == Children develop patterns of attention that reflect the cultural practices of their families, communities, and institutions. In 1955, Jules Henry proposed that societal differences in sensitivity to multiple, simultaneous signals may foster different abilities to manage several levels of attention. He linked this hypothesis to ethnographic observations of communities in which children participate in complex social networks with multiple ongoing relationships. In many Indigenous communities in the Americas, children predominantly learn by observing and pitching in to community activities. Studies suggest that keen observational attention is more common in such communities than in middle-class European-American contexts, where children often learn in settings designed specifically for them. In these Indigenous settings, children frequently monitor and coordinate multiple activities at once, illustrating culturally patterned forms of simultaneous and social attention.
== See also ==
== References ==
== Further reading ==
McCallum, W. Cheyne. "Attention: Definition, Theories, Aspects, & Facts". Britannica. Retrieved 2025-11-17. Mole, Christopher (2021). "Attention". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2025-11-16. Ward, Lawrence M. (2008). "Attention". Scholarpedia. Vol. 3. p. 1538. Bibcode:2008SchpJ...3.1538W. doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.1538.