ABSTRACT
How do observers organize the world into objects and events to be perceived? Even if you are reading this chapter in a quiet setting in the library, consider all of the visual (and other sensory) information around you, such as people, books, and furniture-as well as what is in the immediate surround on your desk, such as a pen, notebook, and water bottle. Visual scenes present much more information to the visual system than could be processed at one time. This chapter focuses on the processes of attention that are needed to select only some of a scene for further processing. We emphasize topics in selective attention-rather than other related topics such as divided attention and multiple types of attentional resources-because of their direct relevance to visual perception and computer graphics.
