Abstract
Many models of attention assume that attentional selection takes place at a specific moment in time which demarcates the critical transition from pre-attentive to attentive processing of sensory inputs. In this talk, I will argue that this intuitively appealing assumption is not only incorrect, but it is also the reason behind the conceptual confusion about what attention is, and how it should be understood in psychological science. As an alternative, I will offer a “diachronic” framework that views attention as a modulatory process that unfolds over time, in tandem with perceptual processing. This framework breaks down the false dichotomy between pre-attentive and attentive processing, and as such, offers new solutions to old problems in attention research (the early vs. late selection debate). More importantly, by situating attention within a broader context of selectivity in the brain, the diachronic account can provide a unified and conceptually coherent account of attention. This will allow us to keep the concept of attention but will also require serious rethinking about how we use attention as a scientific concept.