Neural models of attention?

[Peter Marvit]

Early this century, William James said "Everyone knows what attention
is."  Well, after reading lots of cognitive psychology papers, I'm not so
sure.  After reading more bio-psych and neuro- papers, I'm even less sure
I can give a cogent definition, though I still think I know what it is.
Some colleagues and I have been discussing various approaches to studying
attention.  The question arose:  What neural models (either artificial
[i.e., connectionist] or naturalistic) of attention are there?  Who has
tried to explain how attention works, produced a model which attempts to
be psychologically valid, or (in the words on a friend) explain where
attention "comes from"?  For that matter, can connectionist models be
used for such a slippery subject?

Attending your responses,
Peter Marvit

: Peter Marvit   Hewlett-Packard Labs in Palo Alto, CA   (415) 857-6646    :
: Internet: <marvit at hplabs.hp.com>      uucp: {any backbone}!hplabs!marvit :