Attention: A view suggested by systemic and cybernetic consideration

Abstract

Current views and models about attention regard man as a 'transmitter channel' and try to characterise the properties of that 'odd channel'. Another characteristic of the current views is that attention is regarded as a specific mental operation in a person which can be described, irrespective of the purposes of the subject.

By contrast we examine attention as an activity at the service of the purposes of the person. Attention is examined as an activity by means of which the field of consciousness is structured around the 'object of attention'. This object of attention is not a specific 'stimulus' but a system in the sense of General System Theory. Hence, the approach is mainly holistic in character. Activity is looked upon as an INTERTRAFFIC between the person and his relation with the world. And where there is relatedness, information theory, in a cybernetic sense, can be used. The approach developed benefits of the advantages from previous models allowing also for a better explanation of the limitation present in the cognitive realm without appeal to some 'filter mechanism' in the physiological structure of a person.