Attentional Selection
Top-Down, Bottom-Up and History-Based Biases

Proposes a framework which assumes visual selection results from the interaction between top-down, bottom-up and selection-history factors.

Jan Theeuwes (Author), Michel Failing (Author)

9781108813068, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 September 2020

75 pages
23 x 15.3 x 0.5 cm, 0.12 kg

In this Element, a framework is proposed in which it is assumed that visual selection is the result of the interaction between top-down, bottom-up and selection-history factors. The Element discusses top-down attentional engagement and suppression, bottom-up selection by abrupt onsets and static singletons as well as lingering biases due to selection-history entailing priming, reward and statistical learning. We present an integrated framework in which biased competition among these three factors drives attention in a winner-take-all-fashion. We speculate which brain areas are likely to be involved and how signals representing these three factors feed into the priority map which ultimately determines selection.

1. Introduction
2. Top-down Attention
3. Bottom-up Attention
4. Selection History
5. Integrating Selection: The Priority Map
6. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Physiological & neuro-psychology, biopsychology [JMM]