Predictive coding as a model of biased competition in visual attention
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments
Published on: January 23, 2017
1Division of Engineering, King's College, London, UK. michael.spratling@kcl.ac.uk <michael.spratling@kcl.ac.uk>
Abstract:
Attention acts, through cortical feedback pathways, to enhance the response of cells encoding expected or predicted information. Such observations are inconsistent with the predictive coding theory of cortical function which proposes that feedback acts to suppress information predicted by higher-level cortical regions. Despite this discrepancy, this article demonstrates that the predictive coding model can be used to simulate a number of the effects of attention. This is achieved via a simple mathematical rearrangement of the predictive coding model, which allows it to be interpreted as a form of biased competition model. Nonlinear extensions to the model are proposed that enable it to explain a wider range of data.
More Related Videos
06:46Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
Published on: March 18, 2019
05:58Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking
Published on: August 29, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Theory of Attribution II: Kelley's Covariation Theory
Color Vision
Motivational Bias
Hindsight Biases
Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory