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.