Attention in Vision: Perception, Communication and Action

by van der Heijden,A.H.C.

• ISBN13: 9781841693484
• ISBN10: 1841693480
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-02-19
• Publisher: Psychology Pres

Summary

Attention in Visionis an important work which aims to identify, address and solve some major problems and issues in the psychology of visual perception, attention and intentional control. The central aim is to investigate how people use their visual perception in the performance of tasks and to explore how the intentional control of action is achieved. Through an extensive review of the philosophy of psychology, the history of ideas and theories of intentional control, and an analysis of various tasks, a new theory is developed which argues that there is an important difference between report tasks and act tasks. The first section of the book introduces the issues of visual perception in a historical context and outlines van der Heijden's theory. The theory is developed in the second and third sections by analysing the findings from some of the main experimental paradigms of cognitive psychology and applying the theory to act tasks. Finally, the epilogue skilfully draws together thetheory into an explanation of different historical and theoretical perspectives in psychology. This book will be invaluable to researchers and high-level undergraduates in the field of visual perception and attention.

Author Biography

A. H. C. van der Heijden is a Professor from the Department of Psychology at Leiden University in The Netherlands.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Prologue	1	(6)
PART I Considerations	7	(88)
1 The problem and the approach	9	(26)
1.0 Introduction	9	(1)
1.1 Two psychologies	10	(4)
1.2 James, attention, and intentionality	14	(6)
1.3 The information processing approach, attention, and the subject	20	(6)
1.4 The approach	26	(2)
Notes	28	(7)
2 Types of tasks and instructions	35	(28)
2.0 Introduction	35	(1)
2.1 Selection for action	36	(6)
2.2 Two types of tasks	42	(8)
2.3 Stimuli and instructions	50	(6)
2.4 The subject is the instruction	56	(2)
Notes	58	(5)
3 The internal representation of the instruction	63	(32)
3.0 Introduction	63	(1)
3.1 Early systematic introspective psychology	64	(7)
3.2 Behaviourism	71	(7)
3.3 The information processing approach	78	(8)
3.4 Towards a unit of analysis	86	(4)
Notes	90	(5)
PART II Report tasks	95	(118)
4 An intentional machine	97	(30)
4.0 Introduction	97	(1)
4.1 An intentional machine	98	(9)
4.2 Three relations	107	(6)
4.3 Thought and propositions	113	(5)
4.4 Programs and brains	118	(3)
Notes	121	(6)
5 Paradigms with accuracy as the dependent variable	127	(42)
5.0 Introduction	127	(1)
5.1 Stimulus set, response set, and free report	128	(8)
5.2 Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) tasks	136	(7)
5.3 Position-cueing tasks	143	(12)
5.4 Limited capacity	155	(6)
Notes	161	(8)
6 Paradigms with latency as the dependent variable	169	(44)
6.0 Introduction	169	(1)
6.1 Naming and reading	170	(9)
6.2 The Stroop task	179	(12)
6.3 Preview and a prediction	191	(7)
6.4 Two stages	198	(8)
Notes	206	(7)
PART III Act tasks	213	(134)
7 Towards an effective visual position	215	(28)
7.0 Introduction	215	(1)
7.1 Position as a code for position?	216	(6)
7.2 Partial-report and position judgement tasks	222	(6)
7.3 The perception of position	228	(7)
7.4 An effective position	235	(2)
Notes	237	(6)
8 The cognitive control of saccadic eye movements
8.0 Introduction	243	(1)
8.1 X and the where	244	(10)
8.2 Findlay and Walker's (1999) model	254	(7)
8.3 Morrison's (1984) and Reichl et al.'s (1998) models	261	(7)
8.4 Top-down control	268	(2)
Notes	270	(7)
9 Act tasks and report tasks	277	(38)
9.0 Introduction	277	(1)
9.1 Two units of analysis	278	(7)
9.2 The cognitive control of acts	285	(7)
9.3 Control by short-term goals	292	(9)
9.4 The structure of behaviour	301	(5)
Notes	306	(9)
Epilogue	315	(32)
E.0 Introduction	315	(1)
E.1 Experimental psychology	316	(1008)
E.2 The subject and	1324
E.3 Freedom and free will	330	(6)
E.4 The mind-body problem	336	(6)
Notes	342	(5)
References	347	(22)
Author index	369	(5)
Subject index	374