The Psychology of Attention (Softcover)

Introduction. The Rise of Attention Research: A cognitive approach. The Nature of Visual Attention. Combining Attributes of Objects and Visual Search. Auditory and Cross modal Attention. Task Combination and Divided Attention. Automaticity, Skill and Expertise. Selection and Control of Action. The Nature and Future of Consciousness. References.

Research on attention has evolved dramatically in recent years. There are now many new ways of studying how we are able to select some aspects for processing, whilst ignoring others, and how we are able to combine tasks, learn skills and make intentional actions. Attention is increasingly seen as a complex process intimately linked with perception, memory and action. New questions are continually being addressed, for example in the area of cross modal attention, and the biological bases of attention.

After an initial consideration of what attention might be, this book charts the development in the ideas and theories which surround the field. An entirely new chapter addresses the nature of auditory attention and the question of how visual and auditory attention are combined across modalities. The problems of task combination, skill acquisition and automaticity are also considered, as well as the selection and control of action, and conscious and unconscious processing.

The Psychology of Attention, Second Edition provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to this fascinating and rapidly developing field.

Elizabeth Styles is Lecturer in Psychology at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford.