For psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists interested in ‘attention’, the issue of the limits of our attentional mechanisms is one of great importance — what are the temporal constraints when we attend to and process information? How well can we switch our attention from one task to another, or from one sensory modality to another? In what circumstances can the presentation of one stimulus prevent the recognition of a further stimulus? By seeking answers to such questions, we can learn about the systems underlying such attentional processes, develop more accurate models of our attentional ... More

For psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists interested in ‘attention’, the issue of the limits of our attentional mechanisms is one of great importance — what are the temporal constraints when we attend to and process information? How well can we switch our attention from one task to another, or from one sensory modality to another? In what circumstances can the presentation of one stimulus prevent the recognition of a further stimulus? By seeking answers to such questions, we can learn about the systems underlying such attentional processes, develop more accurate models of our attentional mechanisms, and even get closer to answering some of the many outstanding questions about consciousness itself.