![]() ![]() The two classes of theory are families in two senses. The other class adapts concepts from Green's, Tanner's, and Swets's work on signal-detection theory to problems of attention. One class of theory adapts concepts from Shepard's work on similarity scaling and Luce's work on choice to problems of attention. ![]() The review will be organized around two "families" of theory that derive from seminal work in the 1950s. I am an optimist and my purpose in writing this chapter is to document that cumulative progress by reviewing recent developments in formal theories of attention (for earlier reviews of formal theories of attention, see Bundesen 1996 and Swets 1984 for an earlier argument for cumulative progress in studies of attention, see Posner 1982). An optimist might argue that there has been substantial cumulative progress from the 1950s to the present at a deeper level of theory that integrates and explains the relations between the various empirical phenomena. A cynic might argue that this constant shifting from topic to topic has led to little cumulative progress in our theoretical understanding of attentional phenomena. Since the turn of the century, the focus has been on task switching. In the 1990s, it was the psychological refractory period and the attentional blink. In the 1980s, it was visual search, negative priming, and cuing. In the 1970s, it was automaticity and dual-task performance. In the 1950s and 1960s, the focus was on selective listening. A cynic might argue that the history of research on attention has been a series of unrelated fashions and fads, focusing on different experimental paradigms. In recent years, research on attention has been extended to neuroscience, in studies of humans and monkeys, and to clinical science, in studies of psychopathology. Since the beginning of the cognitive revolution in the 1950s, attention has been a central topic in experimental psychology. ![]() CONTENTS INTRODUCTION SIMILARITY-CHOICE THEORY Shepard-Luce Choice Rule Reaction Time and Response Selection Cumulative Developments SIGNAL-DETECTION THEORY Sensitivity, Bias, and Similarity Reaction Time and Response Selection Cumulative Developments ATTENTION TO DIMENSIONS: CATEGORIZATION Similarity-Choice Theory Signal-Detection Theory ATTENTION TO DIMENSIONS: GARNER TASKS Similarity-Choice Theory Signal-Detection Theory ATTENTION TO OBJECTS: VISUAL SEARCH Similarity-Choice Theory Signal-Detection Theory ATTENTION TO OBJECTS: CUING PROCEDURES Similarity-Choice Theory Signal-Detection Theory EXECUTIVE CONTROL OF ATTENTION Similarity-Choice Theory Signal-Detection Theory CONCLUSIONS The review describes the classical similarity-choice and signal-detection theories and relates them to current theories of categorization, Gamer tasks, visual search, cuing procedures, task switching, and strategy choice. Theories based on these models have been developed to account for a wide variety of attentional phenomena, including attention to dimensions, attention to objects, and executive control. * Abstract Formal theories of attention based on similarity-choice theory and signal-detection theory are reviewed to document cumulative progress in theoretical understanding of attention from the 1950s to the present. Key Words signal detection, similarity, choice, attention, mathematical psychology ![]()
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