Selective and Sustained Attention

Scope: Attention networks (alerting, orienting, executive attention); selective attention; sustained attention; attention shifting; attentional capture; divided attention; feature-based attention; object-based attention; spatial attention; temporal attention.

Out of scope: Attention as an umbrella; alertness as a trait; arousal as a physiological state.

This category contains 11 processes.

Alerting

Process ID: hed_alerting

Achieving and maintaining a state of readiness to respond, whether tonic or phasic; one of Posner’s three attentional networks.

Tasks

The following tasks engage this process:

Fundamental references

  • Posner & Boies (1971) Psychological Review 78:391–408

  • Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz & Posner (2002) Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 14:340–347

Recent references

  • Petersen & Posner (2012) Annual Review of Neuroscience 35:73–89

Attention shifting

Process ID: hed_attention_shifting

Reorienting of attention from one location, feature, or object to another, indexed by cost in RT or accuracy.

Tasks

The following tasks engage this process:

Fundamental references

  • Posner, Walker, Friedrich & Rafal (1984) Journal of Neuroscience 4:1863–1874

Recent references

  • Corbetta, Patel & Shulman (2008) Neuron 58:306–324

Attentional capture

Process ID: hed_attentional_capture

Involuntary shift of attention to a salient stimulus that is not the current target of task-directed attention.

Tasks

The following tasks engage this process:

Fundamental references

  • Yantis & Jonides (1984) JEP: Human Perception and Performance 10:601–621

  • Theeuwes (1992) Perception & Psychophysics 51:599–606

Recent references

  • Theeuwes (2010) Acta Psychologica 135:77–99

Divided attention

Process ID: hed_divided_attention

Concurrent processing of two or more streams of information or two tasks, typically yielding dual-task interference.

Tasks

The following tasks engage this process:

Fundamental references

  • Pashler (1994) Psychological Bulletin 116:220–244

Recent references

  • Strobach, Salminen, Karbach & Schubert (2014) Psychological Research 78:836–851

Feature-based attention

Process ID: hed_feature_based_attention

Selection of a specific visual feature (e.g., a color, orientation, or motion direction) that enhances processing of that feature throughout the visual field.

Tasks

The following tasks engage this process:

Fundamental references

  • Treisman & Gelade (1980) Cognitive Psychology 12:97–136

Recent references

  • Maunsell & Treue (2006) Trends in Neurosciences 29:317–322

Object-based attention

Process ID: hed_object_based_attention

Selection of an object as a unit of attention such that the attended features belonging to the object are processed together.

Tasks

The following tasks engage this process:

Fundamental references

  • Duncan (1984) Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 113:501–517

Recent references

  • Chen (2012) Attention, Perception & Psychophysics 74:784–802

Orienting

Process ID: hed_orienting

Selection of information from sensory input, typically in space, by covert or overt shifts of attention; one of Posner’s three attentional networks.

Tasks

The following tasks engage this process:

Fundamental references

  • Posner (1980) Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 32:3–25

Recent references

  • Corbetta & Shulman (2002) Nature Reviews Neuroscience 3:201–215

Selective attention

Process ID: hed_selective_attention

Prioritized processing of a task-relevant subset of stimuli (a location, feature, object, or modality) with suppression of irrelevant stimuli.

Tasks

The following tasks engage this process:

Fundamental references

  • Treisman (1969) Psychological Review 76:282–299

Recent references

  • Chun, Golomb & Turk-Browne (2011) Annual Review of Psychology 62:73–101

Spatial attention

Process ID: hed_spatial_attention

Selection of a location in space for preferential sensory processing, measurable via cueing benefits and N2pc/P1 modulation.

Tasks

The following tasks engage this process:

Fundamental references

  • Posner (1980) Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 32:3–25

  • Eriksen & St. James (1986) Perception & Psychophysics 40:225–240

Recent references

  • Carrasco (2011) Vision Research 51:1484–1525

Sustained attention

Process ID: hed_sustained_attention

Also known as: Vigilance — Synonymous when operationalized as a continuous-performance measure.

Maintenance of attentional engagement over extended intervals during which targets are rare or responses are repetitive; synonymous with vigilance.

Tasks

The following tasks engage this process:

Fundamental references

  • Mackworth (1948) Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 1:6–21

  • Parasuraman (1979) Science 205:924–927

Recent references

  • Esterman & Rothlein (2019) Current Opinion in Psychology 29:174–180

Temporal attention

Process ID: hed_temporal_attention

Selection of a point in time for preferential processing, measurable via cueing benefits in time and the attentional blink.

Tasks

The following tasks engage this process:

Fundamental references

  • Nobre (2001) Neuropsychologia 39:1317–1328

  • Raymond, Shapiro & Arnell (1992) JEP: Human Perception and Performance 18:849–860

Recent references

  • Nobre & van Ede (2018) Nature Reviews Neuroscience 19:34–48