Attention: Endogenously and exogenously controlled selection in the domains of space, time and activity

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Attention plays a pivotal role in the organization of behavior and thought and in the quality of real-world performance. According to one taxonomy, attention it is composed of isolable but interacting cognitive systems that mediate: orienting, alertness and executive control. This program of research builds upon, and yet departs from this approach to attention, by integrating, these three ideas: selecting implies neglecting, selection can be controlled automatically (by instinct or habit) or effortfully (through intentional strategy) and selection can take place in the domains of space, time and activity. In recent years, we have contributed important methodological, empirical and theoretical advances in the field of attention generally, to orienting which is a component of attention, and to inhibition of return, which is a component of orienting that is encourages attention to novelty. Our research progress on attention, orienting and inhibition of return is presented and used as a foundation for the proposed research. Our objectives range from general (an effort to improve on the taxonomy of attention that guides our research) to specific (e.g. to test specific hypotheses that arise out of our theoretical and modeling efforts or that are stimulated by our empirical discoveries. We are always on the lookout for opportunities to apply our methods and knowledge of cognitive processes to help make a better, safer and healthier world. The primary methods that we use to achieve our objectives are behavioral measurement (of human perception and performance in carefully designed, often dual task, situations), computational modeling (e.g., artificial neural network modeling) and, recently, neuroimaging (primarily ERPs; but also fMRI). Although this is an individual discovery grant application, "we" has been used deliberately because my RA and trainees and I are a team whose successes depend on intellectual collaboration, cross-training and the sharing of ideas.