ABSTRACT
This chapter explores attention research and how attention functions in the brain during learning. Stimuli in the environment are constantly competing for attention and processing resources. Attention is rooted in competition between stimulus-driven behavior and goal-directed response (James, 1950). This constant competition occurs over time and throughout the brain. Stimuli can be external (environmental) or internal (from a learner’s own memory or body) (James, 1950). Procedural memory, declarative memory, working memory, and motor planning each play a role in the formation of goals and responses. Memory, goal-directed behavior, stimulus-driven response, and the competition for processing resources all contribute to the creation of “attention.” The following pages discuss the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie these aspects of attention. In this chapter visual selective attention, and its role as a model for attention in other modalities (Constantinidis, Williams, & Goldman-Rakic, 2002; James, 1950; Kanwisher & Wojciulik, 2000; Parasuraman, 1998), is drawn on to suggest how the attention process might function in adult second language learning.
