Editing Attention (section)

==Alternative topics and discussions==

===Overt and covert orienting===
Attention may be differentiated into "overt" versus "covert" orienting.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Wright RD, Ward LM |year= 2008 |title= Orienting of Attention |publisher= [[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref>

''Overt orienting'' is the act of selectively attending to an item or location over others by moving the eyes to point in that direction.<ref name="Posner, M. I. 1980">{{cite journal | vauthors = Posner MI | title = Orienting of attention | journal = The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology | volume = 32 | issue = 1 | pages = 3–25 | date = February 1980 | pmid = 7367577 | doi = 10.1080/00335558008248231 | s2cid = 2842391 | url = http://psych.unl.edu/mdodd/Psy498/Posner.pdf }}</ref> Overt orienting can be directly observed in the form of eye movements. Although overt eye movements are quite common, there is a distinction that can be made between two types of eye movements; reflexive and controlled. Reflexive movements are commanded by the [[superior colliculus]] of the [[midbrain]]. These movements are fast and are activated by the sudden appearance of stimuli. In contrast, controlled eye movements are commanded by areas in the [[frontal lobe]]. These movements are slow and voluntary.

''Covert orienting'' is the act of mentally shifting one's focus without moving one's eyes.<ref name="Eriksen"/><ref name="Posner, M. I. 1980"/><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Eriksen CW, Colegate RL |title=Selective attention and serial processing in briefly presented visual displays|journal=Perception & Psychophysics|volume=10|issue=5|pages=321–326|year=1971 |doi=10.3758/BF03207451 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Simply, it is changes in attention that are not attributable to overt eye movements. Covert orienting has the potential to affect the output of perceptual processes by governing attention to particular items or locations (for example, the activity of a V4 neuron whose receptive field lies on an attended stimuli will be enhanced by covert attention)<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite journal | vauthors = Gregoriou GG, Gotts SJ, Zhou H, Desimone R | title = High-frequency, long-range coupling between prefrontal and visual cortex during attention | journal = Science | volume = 324 | issue = 5931 | pages = 1207–10 | date = May 2009 | pmid = 19478185 | pmc = 2849291 | doi = 10.1126/science.1171402 | bibcode = 2009Sci...324.1207G }}</ref> but does not influence the information that is processed by the senses. Researchers often use "filtering" tasks to study the role of covert attention of selecting information. These tasks often require participants to observe a number of stimuli, but attend to only one.<br /> The current view is that visual covert attention is a mechanism for quickly scanning the field of view for interesting locations. This shift in covert attention is linked to eye movement circuitry that sets up a slower [[saccade]] to that location.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Carrasco M, McElree B | title = Covert attention accelerates the rate of visual information processing | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 98 | issue = 9 | pages = 5363–7 | date = April 2001 | pmid = 11309485 | pmc = 33215 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.081074098 | bibcode = 2001PNAS...98.5363C | doi-access = free }}</ref>

There are studies that suggest the mechanisms of overt and covert orienting may not be controlled separately and independently as previously believed. Central mechanisms that may control covert orienting, such as the [[parietal lobe]], also receive input from subcortical centres involved in overt orienting.<ref name="Posner, M. I. 1980"/> In support of this, general theories of attention actively assume bottom-up (reflexive) processes and top-down (voluntary) processes converge on a common neural architecture, in that they control both covert and overt attentional systems.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hunt AR, Kingstone A | title = Covert and overt voluntary attention: linked or independent? | journal = Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research | volume = 18 | issue = 1 | pages = 102–5 | date = December 2003 | pmid = 14659502 | doi = 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2003.08.006 }}</ref>  For example, if individuals attend to the right hand corner field of view, movement of the eyes in that direction may have to be actively suppressed.

Covert attention has been argued to reflect the existence of processes "programming explicit ocular movement".<ref name="Rizzolatti Riggio Dascola Umiltá 1987 pp. 31–40">{{cite journal |last1=Rizzolatti |first1=Giacomo |last2=Riggio |first2=Lucia |last3=Dascola |first3=Isabella |last4=Umiltá |first4=Carlo |date=1987 |title=Reorienting attention across the horizontal and vertical meridians: Evidence in favor of a premotor theory of attention |journal=Neuropsychologia |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=31–40 |doi=10.1016/0028-3932(87)90041-8|pmid=3574648 |s2cid=16353514 }}</ref> However, this has been questioned on the grounds that [[N200 (neuroscience)|N2]], "a neural measure of covert attentional allocation—does not always precede eye movements".<ref name="Talcott Kiat Luck Gaspelin 2023 p.">{{cite journal |last1=Talcott |first1=Travis N. |last2=Kiat |first2=John E. |last3=Luck |first3=Steven J. |last4=Gaspelin |first4=Nicholas |date=2023-08-23 |title=Is covert attention necessary for programming accurate saccades? Evidence from saccade-locked event-related potentials |journal=Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=172–190 |doi=10.3758/s13414-023-02775-5 |pmid=37612581 |s2cid=261098480 |issn=1943-3921}}</ref> However, the researchers acknowledge, "it may be impossible to definitively rule out the possibility that some kind of shift of covert attention precedes every shift of overt attention".<ref name="Talcott Kiat Luck Gaspelin 2023 p.">{{cite journal |last1=Talcott |first1=Travis N. |last2=Kiat |first2=John E. |last3=Luck |first3=Steven J. |last4=Gaspelin |first4=Nicholas |date=2023-08-23 |title=Is covert attention necessary for programming accurate saccades? Evidence from saccade-locked event-related potentials |journal=Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=172–190 |doi=10.3758/s13414-023-02775-5 |pmid=37612581 |s2cid=261098480 |issn=1943-3921}}</ref>

===Exogenous and endogenous orienting===
Orienting attention is vital and can be controlled through external (exogenous) or internal (endogenous) processes.  However, comparing these two processes is challenging because external signals do not operate completely exogenously, but will only summon attention and eye movements if they are important to the subject.<ref name="Posner, M. I. 1980"/>

''Exogenous'' (from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''exo'', meaning "outside", and ''genein'', meaning "to produce") orienting is frequently described as being under control of a stimulus.<ref name="Mayer, A. R. 2004">{{cite journal | vauthors = Mayer AR, Dorflinger JM, Rao SM, Seidenberg M | title = Neural networks underlying endogenous and exogenous visual-spatial orienting | journal = NeuroImage | volume = 23 | issue = 2 | pages = 534–41 | date = October 2004 | pmid = 15488402 | doi = 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.06.027 | s2cid = 42196703 }}</ref>  Exogenous orienting is considered to be reflexive and automatic and is caused by a sudden change in the periphery. This often results in a reflexive saccade. Since exogenous cues are typically presented in the periphery, they are referred to as ''peripheral cues''. Exogenous orienting can even be observed when individuals are aware that the cue will not relay reliable, accurate information about where a target is going to occur. This means that the mere presence of an exogenous cue will affect the response to other stimuli that are subsequently presented in the cue's previous location.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Friesen CK, Kingstone A |title=The eyes have it! Reflexive orienting is triggered by nonpredictive gaze|journal=Psychonomic Bulletin & Review |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=490–495 |year=1998 |url= http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/users/ferber/teaching/visualattention/readings/Oct6/1998_Friesen_Kingstone_PBR.pdf |doi=10.3758/BF03208827 |s2cid=672869|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Several studies have investigated the influence of valid and invalid cues.<ref name="Posner, M. I. 1980"/><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cheal M, Lyon DR | title = Central and peripheral precuing of forced-choice discrimination | journal = The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. A, Human Experimental Psychology | volume = 43 | issue = 4 | pages = 859–80 | date = November 1991 | pmid = 1775667 | doi = 10.1080/14640749108400960 | s2cid = 13304439 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Jonides J | date = 1981 | chapter = Voluntary versus automatic control over the mind's eye movement | veditors = Long JB, Braddely AD | title = Attention and performance IX | pages = 187–203 | location = London | publisher = Erlbaum }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tsal Y | title = Movements of attention across the visual field | journal = Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance | volume = 9 | issue = 4 | pages = 523–30 | date = August 1983 | pmid = 6224890 | doi = 10.1037/0096-1523.9.4.523 }}</ref> They concluded that valid peripheral cues benefit performance, for instance when the peripheral cues are brief flashes at the relevant location before the onset of a visual stimulus. Psychologists Michael Posner and Yoav Cohen (1984) noted a reversal of this benefit takes place when the interval between the onset of the cue and the onset of the target is longer than about 300 ms.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Posner MI, Cohen YP | date = 1984 | chapter = Components of visual orienting | veditors = Bouma H, Bouwhuis D | title = Attention and performance X | pages = 531–566 | location = London | publisher = Erlbaum }}</ref> The phenomenon  of valid cues producing longer reaction times than invalid cues is called [[inhibition of return]].

''Endogenous'' (from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''endo'', meaning "within" or "internally") orienting is the intentional allocation of attentional resources to a predetermined location or space.<!-- <ref name="Mayer, A.R. 2004" /> ???--> Simply stated, endogenous orienting occurs when attention is oriented according to an observer's goals or desires, allowing the focus of attention to be manipulated by the demands of a task. In order to have an effect, endogenous cues must be processed by the observer and acted upon purposefully. These cues are frequently referred to as ''central cues''. This is because they are typically presented at the center of a display, where an observer's eyes are likely to be fixated. Central cues, such as an arrow or digit presented at fixation, tell observers to attend to a specific location.<ref>{{Cite journal | vauthors = Hodgson TL, Muller HJ | doi = 10.1080/027249899390990 | title = Attentional Orienting in Two-dimensional Space | journal = The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A | volume = 52 | issue = 3 | pages = 615–648 | year = 1999 }}</ref>

When examining differences between exogenous and endogenous orienting, some researchers suggest that there are four differences between the two kinds of cues: 
* exogenous orienting is less affected by [[cognitive load]] than endogenous orienting; 
* observers are able to ignore endogenous cues but not exogenous cues;
* exogenous cues have bigger effects than endogenous cues; and
* expectancies about cue validity and predictive value affects endogenous orienting more than exogenous orienting.<ref>Jonides, J. (1981). Voluntary vs. automatic control over the mind's eye's movement. In J.B. Long & A.D. Baddeley (Eds.), Attention and performance IX (pp. 187–203). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.</ref>

There exist both overlaps and differences in the areas of the brain that are responsible for endogenous and exogenous orientating.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Rosen AC, Rao SM, Caffarra P, Scaglioni A, Bobholz JA, Woodley SJ, Hammeke TA, Cunningham JM, Prieto TE, Binder JR | display-authors = 6 | title = Neural basis of endogenous and exogenous spatial orienting. A functional MRI study | journal = Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience | volume = 11 | issue = 2 | pages = 135–52 | date = March 1999 | pmid = 10198130 | doi = 10.1162/089892999563283 | s2cid = 13573473 }}</ref> Another approach to this discussion has been covered under the topic heading of "bottom-up" versus "top-down" orientations to attention. Researchers of this school have described two different aspects of how the mind focuses attention to items present in the environment. The first aspect is called bottom-up processing, also known as stimulus-driven attention or [[exogeny|exogenous]] attention. These describe attentional processing which is driven by the properties of the objects themselves. Some processes, such as motion or a sudden loud noise, can attract our attention in a pre-conscious, or non-volitional way. We attend to them whether we want to or not.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Theeuwes J | title = Exogenous and endogenous control of attention: the effect of visual onsets and offsets | journal = Perception & Psychophysics | volume = 49 | issue = 1 | pages = 83–90 | date = January 1991 | pmid = 2011456 | doi = 10.3758/bf03211619 | doi-access = free }}</ref> These aspects of attention are thought to involve [[parietal lobe|parietal]] and [[temporal lobe|temporal]] cortices, as well as the [[brainstem]].<ref name="Posner">{{cite journal | vauthors = Posner MI, Petersen SE | title = The attention system of the human brain | journal = Annual Review of Neuroscience | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | pages = 25–42 | year = 1990 | pmid = 2183676 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.ne.13.030190.000325 | s2cid = 2995749 | url = http://cns-web.bu.edu/Profiles/Mingolla.html/cnsftp/cn730-2007-pdf/posner_petersen90.pdf | access-date = 2015-01-10 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150420124015/http://cns-web.bu.edu/Profiles/Mingolla.html/cnsftp/cn730-2007-pdf/posner_petersen90.pdf | archive-date = 2015-04-20 }}</ref> More recent experimental evidence<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Yan Y, Zhaoping L, Li W | title = Bottom-up saliency and top-down learning in the primary visual cortex of monkeys | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 115 | issue = 41 | pages = 10499–10504 | date = October 2018 | pmid = 30254154 | pmc = 6187116 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1803854115 | bibcode = 2018PNAS..11510499Y | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zhaoping L | title = Attention capture by eye of origin singletons even without awareness--a hallmark of a bottom-up saliency map in the primary visual cortex | journal = Journal of Vision | volume = 8 | issue = 5 | pages = 1.1–18 | date = May 2008 | pmid = 18842072 | doi = 10.1167/8.5.1 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zhang X, Zhaoping L, Zhou T, Fang F | title = Neural activities in v1 create a bottom-up saliency map | journal = Neuron | volume = 73 | issue = 1 | pages = 183–92 | date = January 2012 | pmid = 22243756 | doi = 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.10.035 | doi-access = free }}</ref> support the idea that the [http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Area_V1 primary visual cortex] creates a bottom-up saliency map,<ref name=":1">{{cite journal | vauthors = Li Z | title = A saliency map in primary visual cortex | journal = Trends in Cognitive Sciences | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | pages = 9–16 | date = January 2002 | pmid = 11849610 | doi = 10.1016/s1364-6613(00)01817-9 | s2cid = 13411369 }}</ref><ref name=":0" /> which is received by  the [[superior colliculus]] in the [[midbrain]] area to  guide attention or gaze shifts.

The second aspect is called top-down processing, also known as goal-driven, [[endogeny|endogenous]] attention, [[Attentional Control|attentional control]] or [[executive functions|executive]] attention. This aspect of our attentional orienting is under the control of the person who is attending. It is mediated primarily by the [[frontal lobe|frontal]] cortex and [[basal ganglia]]<ref name="Posner" /><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Posner MI, Rothbart MK | title = Attention, self-regulation and consciousness | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences| volume = 353 | issue = 1377 | pages = 1915–27 | date = November 1998 | pmid = 9854264 | pmc = 1692414 | doi = 10.1098/rstb.1998.0344 }}</ref> as one of the [[executive functions]].<ref name="Posner, M. I. 1980"/><ref name="Posner" /> Research has shown that it is related to other aspects of the executive functions, such as [[working memory]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Astle DE, Scerif G | title = Using developmental cognitive neuroscience to study behavioral and attentional control | journal = Developmental Psychobiology | volume = 51 | issue = 2 | pages = 107–18 | date = March 2009 | pmid = 18973175 | doi = 10.1002/dev.20350 }}</ref> and conflict resolution and inhibition.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Rueda MR, Rothbart MK, McCandliss BD, Saccomanno L, Posner MI | title = Training, maturation, and genetic influences on the development of executive attention | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 102 | issue = 41 | pages = 14931–6 | date = October 2005 | pmid = 16192352 | pmc = 1253585 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0506897102 | bibcode = 2005PNAS..10214931R | doi-access = free }}</ref>

===Influence of processing load===
A "hugely influential"<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01322|pmid = 27625628|pmc = 5003837|title = Perceptual Load Affects Eyewitness Accuracy and Susceptibility to Leading Questions|journal = Frontiers in Psychology|volume = 7|pages = 1322|year = 2016| vauthors = Murphy G, Greene CM |doi-access = free}}</ref> theory regarding selective attention is the [[Perceptual load theory#Perceptual load theory|perceptual load theory]], which states that there are two mechanisms that affect attention: cognitive and perceptual. The perceptual mechanism considers the subject's ability to perceive or ignore stimuli, both task-related and non task-related. Studies show that if there are many stimuli present (especially if they are task-related), it is much easier to ignore the non-task related stimuli, but if there are few stimuli the mind will perceive the irrelevant stimuli as well as the relevant. The cognitive mechanism refers to the actual processing of the stimuli. Studies regarding this showed that the ability to process stimuli decreased with age, meaning that younger people were able to perceive more stimuli and fully process them, but were likely to process both relevant and irrelevant information, while older people could process fewer stimuli, but usually processed only relevant information.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lavie N, Hirst A, de Fockert JW, Viding E | title = Load theory of selective attention and cognitive control | journal = Journal of Experimental Psychology. General | volume = 133 | issue = 3 | pages = 339–54 | date = September 2004 | pmid = 15355143 | doi = 10.1037/0096-3445.133.3.339 | s2cid = 10399663 | url = http://www.icn.ucl.ac.uk/lavielab/reprints/Lavie-etal-04.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130626052615/http://www.icn.ucl.ac.uk/lavielab/reprints/lavie-etal-04.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2013-06-26 }}</ref>

Some people can process multiple stimuli, e.g. trained Morse code operators have been able to copy 100% of a message while carrying on a meaningful conversation.  This relies on the reflexive response due to "overlearning" the skill of morse code reception/detection/transcription so that it is an autonomous function requiring no specific attention to perform. This overtraining of the brain comes as the "practice of a skill [surpasses] 100% accuracy," allowing the activity to become autonomic, while your mind has room to process other actions simultaneously.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Dougherty KM, Johnston JM | title = Overlearning, fluency, and automaticity | journal = The Behavior Analyst | volume = 19 | issue = 2 | pages = 289–92 | date = October 1996 | pmid = 22478265 | pmc = 2733607 | doi = 10.1007/bf03393171 }}</ref>

Based on the primary role of the perceptual load theory, assumptions regarding its functionality surrounding that attentional resources are that of limited capacity which signify the need for all of the attentional resources to be used.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cartwright-Finch |first1=Ula |last2=Lavie |first2=Nilli |date=2007-03-01 |title=The role of perceptual load in inattentional blindness |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027706000205 |journal=Cognition |language=en |volume=102 |issue=3 |pages=321–340 |doi=10.1016/j.cognition.2006.01.002 |pmid=16480973 |s2cid=11075314 |issn=0010-0277}}</ref> This performance, however, is halted when put hand in hand with accuracy and reaction time (RT). This limitation arises through the measurement of literature when obtaining outcomes for scores. This affects both cognitive and perceptual attention because there is a lack of measurement surrounding distributions of temporal and spatial attention. Only a concentrated amount of attention on how effective one is completing the task and how long they take is being analyzed making a more redundant analysis on overall cognition of being able to process multiple stimuli through perception.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2023 |title=Supplemental Material for The Mediating Role of Attention in the Association Between Math Anxiety and Math Performance: An Eye-Tracking Study |url=http://supp.apa.org/psycarticles/supplemental/edu0000759/edu0000759_supp.html |journal=Journal of Educational Psychology |language=en |pages=edu0000759.supp |doi=10.1037/edu0000759.supp |s2cid=249802314 |issn=0022-0663|doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Clinical model===
Attention is best described as the sustained focus of cognitive resources on information while filtering or ignoring extraneous information. Attention is a very basic function that often is a precursor to all other neurological/cognitive functions. As is frequently the case, clinical models of attention differ from investigation models. One of the most used models for the evaluation of attention in patients with very different [[neurologic]] pathologies is the model of Sohlberg and Mateer.<ref>{{cite book  | vauthors = Sohlberg MM, Mateer CA | title = Introduction to cognitive rehabilitation: theory and practice | publisher = Guilford Press | location = New York | year = 1989 | isbn = 978-0-89862-738-1 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/introductiontoco00sohl }}</ref> This hierarchic model is based in the recovering of attention processes of [[brain damage]] patients after [[coma]]. Five different kinds of activities of growing difficulty are described in the model; connecting with the activities those patients could do as their recovering process advanced.
* '''Focused attention:''' The ability to respond discretely to specific [[sense|sensory]] stimuli.
* '''Sustained attention ([[vigilance (psychology)|vigilance]] and [[attentional control|concentration]]):''' The ability to maintain a consistent behavioral response during continuous and repetitive activity.
* '''Selective attention:''' The ability to maintain a behavioral or cognitive set in the face of distracting or competing stimuli. Therefore, it incorporates the notion of "freedom from distractibility."
* '''Alternating attention:''' The ability of mental flexibility that allows individuals to shift their focus of attention and move between tasks having different cognitive requirements.
* '''Divided attention:''' This refers to the ability to respond simultaneously to multiple tasks or multiple task demands.

This model has been shown to be very useful in evaluating attention in very different pathologies, correlates strongly with daily difficulties and is especially helpful in designing stimulation programs such as attention process training, a rehabilitation program for neurological patients of the same authors.