it up in the dictionary you will find an entry that states to keep ones mind on something. That would describe the phrase to pay attention or to attend, but one is still left wondering what is the mechanism of attention. Some researchers dont even like to use the word attention because it is difficult to say exactly what the term is meant to identify (Pashler, 1998; Thornton & Gilden, 2001; Watamaniuk & McKee, 1995, 1998). According to H. E. Pashler (1998) there are (two primary ideas) that characterize attention: selectivity and capacity limitation. That is, at any given moment in time we are receiving a great deal of perceptual information and because we can become overwhelmed by trying to do too much at once we must select the part of our environment that is relevant at that particular moment. Pashler goes on to identify core phenomena addressed by attention research: selectivity of perception, voluntary control over this selectivity, and capacity limits in mental functioning that cannot be attributed to mere limitations in our sensory or motor systems. When reading the literature on current attention research there are a few key ideas to remember. These include early or late selection, or the point at which attention exerts its influence on perception. Early selection theories suggest that only the selected stimulus is processed sufficiently for identification. Late selection theories suggest that all stimuli are processed and then selection determines the stimulus that is brought into awareness. A third set of theories referred to as controlled parallel combines aspects of the first two and suggests that more than one thing can be processed if that is advantageous (Pashler, 1998). Attention for the purposes of this paper will be defined as the demand placed on cognitive resources (Thornton & Gilden, 2001). Attention has been described as endogenous (i.e. willful deployment of cognitive resources) or exogenous (i.e. stim...
