The environment presents the visual system with more information than it can handle. To deal with this, certain information is prioritized. Some of this is done automatically in a bottom-up fashion, according to relative visual salience; police flashing lights take advantage of this. Some is done willfully, through visual attention, as when one focuses on the car ahead during driving and may ignore a pedestrian entering the crosswalk. Currently, we are investigating the processes that transform a willful attentional prioritization into an automatic one, through training, similarly to the automatization that accompanies practicing a new skill, like tennis or driving.
Related publications:
papers
Sohn, W., Papathomas, T., Blaser, E., & Vidnyanszky, Z. (2004). Object-based cross-attribute attentional modulation from color to motion. Vision Research, 44, 1437-1443.
Blaser, E., Pylyshyn, Z.W., & Holcombe, A. (2000). Tracking an object through feature-space. Nature, 408, 196-199.
see also:
Braun, J. (2000). Intimate attention. [Discussion of Blaser, Pylyshyn, & Holcombe (2000)]. Nature, 408, 154-155.
Blaser, E., Sperling, G., & Lu, Z-L. (1999). Measuring the amplification of attention. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 96, 11681-11686.
see also:
Snowden, R. (2000) In clear and vivid form? [Discussion of Blaser, Sperling, & Lu (1999)]. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 40.
Kowler, E., Anderson, E., Dosher, B., & Blaser, E. (1995). The role of attention in the programming of saccades. Vision Research, 35, 1897-1916.
presentations
Sohn, W., Papathomas, T., Blaser, E., & Vidnyanszky, Z. (2003). Object-based cross-attribute attentional effects in bivectorial motion. The Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS), Sarasota, FL
Sohn, W., Blaser, E., Vidnyanszky, Z., & Papathomas, T. (2002). Surface based mechanisms of attentional facilitation and inhibition in motion perception. The Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS), Sarasota, FL
Sohn, W., Vidnyanszky, Z., Blaser, E., & Papathomas, T. (2001). Attention to one component of bivectorial transparent motion strongly inhibits the processing of the unattended component. The Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS), Sarasota, FL
Blaser, E., Pylyshyn, Z.W., & Domini, F. (1999). Measuring attention during 3D multielement tracking. The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), Annual Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
