A generic model of visual selective attention

Abstract

We present a computational model for the understanding of the fundamental principles of visual selective attention. The model has important medical, social and engineering applications that could benefit the general public. The design of the model is guided by the state of the art in neurophysiological evidence and its performance has been evaluated by comparisons to behavioral data from psychological studies. The model effectively links low level neural interactions with behavioral data, thus providing concrete explanations for psychological phenomena. The model was used to simulate finding from several behavioral experiments on visual selective attention, with emphasis on those eliciting controversies in the scientific literature.