The attention switching model: Implications for research in schizophrenia

Abstract

THE CONCEPT of attention has had an extremely uneven importance in the history of experimental psychology. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, attention was regarded as one of the core problems for experimental psychology. Then, with the rise of Behaviorism and Gestalt Psychology, the concept of attention fell into disrepute. It was not until 1958, with the publication of BROADBENT’S book, Perception and Communication,’ that the seal ofrespectability was again put on experimental investigations of human attention. Since the 1950’s, experimental research on attention has been abundant, fruitful, and exciting. However, it has become increasingly clear that many different kinds of behavior are included under the concept of attention. Some of these behaviors appear to bear little relation to one another except for being similarly classified as involving attention. In fact, one is struck by the disparities among attentional tasks rather than by any feature which the tasks have in common. The hypothesis of an attentional deficit in schizophrenia has generated much research in recent years. However, as NEALE and CROMWELL~ have pointed out: