Attention, Models of

All neuropsychological models of attention attempt to characterize specific behaviors in relation to particular brain regions. Thus, if a patient has frontal lobe damage and is unable to shift attentional focus from one characteristic of an object to another (e.g., from its color to its shape), [Page 324]an inference may be drawn that the capacity to shift attention is supported by the frontal lobes. There is considerable overlap in the functional breakdown of the models, as they are all derived from study of the same human organ, the brain.

Measures of behavior have been used to assess deficits in attention in individuals with head injuries, neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia or epilepsy, attention-deficit disorder, and fetal alcohol disorder, among others. The measures have also been employed ...