What’s New in Attention?
Jelena Ristic
McGill University

Traditionally, studies of human attention have been grounded in a theoretical model that divides attentional processes to those driven by external sensory information (i.e., exogenous or automatic attention) and those driven by internal goals of an individual (i.e., endogenous or voluntary attention). More recent investigations however suggest that this classic conceptualization does not capture the range of attentional processes occurring in life. Collectively, these new data suggest that attention is a complex ability, which along with the nature of control also varies with environments and individuals. Emerging alternative models that incorporate these new findings will be discussed.