ATTENTION : selection and control in human information processing

This text presents a comprehensive and accessible overview of the science of attention, conveying its central findings and applications to real-world issues, including its relationship with technology, learning, and memory. The study of attention is a core area of psychology that is particularly relevant today, given the ever-increasing demands on our mental workload. This book conveys the essential issues in attention research, showing how theory and research co-evolve. The authors use an interdisciplinary information-processing framework that draws from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Each chapter reviews a specific type of attention and related cognitive processes, including auditory and visual selective attention, attentional control and inhibition, divided attention and multitasking, sensory and working memory, and memory consolidation and information retrieval. Feature boxes help readers translate key research findings into real-world applications. A special focus is the relationship between attention and modern technology, for example in processing multisensory input in virtual and online environments, and in situations such as air traffic control, piloting, and driving, where situation awareness is crucial. Various pathologies that affect attention are also reviewed, including ADHD, autism-spectrum disorders, dementia, and head injuries. This text presents a comprehensive and accessible overviewof the science of attention, conveying its central findings andapplications to real-world issues, including its relationship withtechnology, learning, and memory. The study of attentionis a core area of psychology that is particularly relevant today,given the ever-increasing demands on our mental workload. This bookconveys the essential issues in attention research, showing howtheory and research co-evolve. The authors use an interdisciplinaryinformation-processing framework that draws from cognitivepsychology and neuroscience. Each chapter reviews a specific typeof attention and related cognitive processes, including auditoryand visual selective attention, attentional control and inhibition,divided attention and multitasking, sensory and working memory, andmemory consolidation and information retrieval. Feature boxes helpreaders translate key research findings into real-worldapplications. A special focus is the relationship between attentionand modern technology, for example in processing multisensory inputin virtual and online environments, and in situations such as airtraffic control, piloting, and driving, where situation awarenessis crucial. Various pathologies that affect attention are alsoreviewed, including ADHD, autism-spectrum disorders, dementia, andhead injuries. This text presents a comprehensive, accessibleintroduction to the science of attention, conveying centralfindings and real-world applications to issues like technology,learning, and memory. It reviews interdisciplinary research and amultimethod framework for understanding attention. Specific typesof attention and related concepts are closely examined, includingselective attention, attentional control, and multitasking. Theways in which we process multisensory input from technology and itsimpacts on our mental workloads and situation awareness areexplored in depth, and pathologies like ADHD and dementia are alsoreviewed Contents Preface Chapter 1 Historical Overview of Research on Attention Chapter 2 Information Processing and the Study of Attention Chapter 3 Selective Attention in Audition and Vision Chapter 4 Orienting and Inhibiting Attention Chapter 5 Attentional Control in Congruity and Negative Priming Tasks Chapter 6 Change Detection and Cross-Modal Attention Chapter 7 Divided Attention and Multiple-Task Performance Chapter 8 Memory and Attention Chapter 9 Mental Workload and Situation Awareness Chapter 10 Attention and Displays Chapter 11 Individual and Group Differences in Attention Chapter 12 Social Attention and Team Performance Afterword References Index About the Authors This textbook presents a comprehensive and accessible overview of the science of attention, conveying central findings and applications to real-world issues, such as its relationship with technology, learning, and memory.