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Spatial attention in vision

Evidence for early selection

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Summary

Human observers can selectively allocate processing resources to different areas of the visual field within a single fixation. This spatial attention system may affect either the quality of information extraction or the decisions and responses based on this information. This paper reviews evidence from behavioral, single-unit, and event-related potential paradigms; the evidence suggests a relatively “early” locus of spatial attention.

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This research was supported by the U. S. Army Research Office under contract DAAG 29-83-K-0049. Portions of this paper were presented to the Conference on Attention and Action, Bielefeld, West Germany, in July 1985

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Hoffman, J.E. Spatial attention in vision. Psychol. Res 48, 221–229 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309086

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