Speaker:　Prof. Zhong-Lin Lu, Ph.D.　
　　　　　 Distinguished Professor of Social and Behavioral Science and Professor of Psychology 
　　　　　 The Ohio State University
Time:　　  14:00pm - 16:00pm
Date:　　　Oct 26 (Fri), 2012
Venue:　　Level 8 Meeting Room, South Building

Abstract:
Sensory physiologists and psychologists have recognized the importance of attention on human performance for more than 100 years. Since the 1970s, controlled and extensive experiments have examined the effects of selective attention to a location in space, or to an object. In addition to behavioral studies, cognitive neuroscientists have investigated the neural bases of attention. In this paper, I briefly review some classical attention paradigms, recent advances on the theory of attention, and some new insights from psychophysics and cognitive neuroscience. The focus is on the mechanisms of attention, that is, how attention improves human performance. Situations in which the perception of objects is unchanged, but performance may differ due to different decision structures, are distinguished from those in which attention changes the perceptual processes. The perceptual template model is introduced as a theoretical framework for analyzing mechanisms of attention. I also present empirical evidence for two attention mechanisms, stimulus enhancement and external noise exclusion, from psychophysics, neurophysiology and brain imaging.

Attachment::
　　　Mechanisms of Attention: Psychophysics,Cognitive Psychology,and Cognitive Neuroscience(.doc)