How do we attend, and what are the limits of our attention? How does our attentional system interact with other cognitive functions?
Coherent behavior requires selective processing of information that is relevant for one’s current behavioral goals, while also ignoring distracting information.
This selective stimulus processing requires some information to be prioritized over others. We are interested in understanding the processing constraints on attentional priority control mechanisms, their temporal dynamics, and how they interact with working memory, long-term memory, and executive function.
Previous work in this theme includes work on the attentional blink phenomenon, reward related influences on attention, and oscillatory dynamics when attending to and remembering task relevant information. Many of our ongoing projects build on this previous work, but also include studies on sustained attention and distraction in working memory.