Rethinking attention
A unified perspective on top-down and bottom-up processes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21283019 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Seyed Javad Saghravanian (0000-0002-9007-3056, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 258 |
| Pages | 105244 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Acta Psychologica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0001-6918 • E-ISSN: 1873-6297 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105244 |
| PMID | 40614431 |
| OpenAlex | W4411991843 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 80 |
Attention enables organisms to prioritize information in environments where neural and cognitive resources are limited. Traditionally, this process has been understood as the outcome of two distinct mechanisms: top-down control, shaped by goals and expectations, and bottom-up reactivity to salient stimuli. However, growing evidence from neuroscience, psychology, and evolutionary theory challenges the clarity and sufficiency of this dichotomy. This review proposes a unified framework in which attentional selection emerges from a single system guided by overlapping priorities across three timescales: evolutionary imperatives (e.g., survival), learned experiences (e.g., value-based biases), and immediate task demands. Rather than two interacting systems, top-down and bottom-up processes are reinterpreted as different temporal expressions of the same underlying mechanism. This perspective offers a reconceptualization of classical models and encourages a more integrated interpretation of neural and behavioral data
Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Perspective (graphical) · Top-down and bottom-up design · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Memory and Neural Mechanisms · Mind wandering and attention · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies · Psychology
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| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |