ABSTRACT
The concept of proximal attention is applicable to the space of object properties if any increase in the distance from a given standard property corresponds with an increase in the number of possible properties. The concept of attention implies that behaviour, and perceptual behaviour in particular, always contains an aspect of selectivity and an aspect of intensification. The selection criterion has its proper zone of proximal attention that consists of a relatively small number of related perceptual properties. The shifts are determined by the zones of proximal attention associated with each focus. The zone of proximal attention is expressed by the structure of the actual attention shifts. A limited - though probably fairly extensive - set of attention shifts should enable us to discover the probabilities with which the various shifts take place. The focus of attention, however, covers a domain that is usually more extended than the visual fixation point.
