Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Visual System01:26

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
Vision01:24

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.
Parallel Processing01:20

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...
Anatomy of the Eyeball01:20

Anatomy of the Eyeball

The eye is a spherical, hollow structure composed of three tissue layers. The outer layer — the fibrous tunic, comprises the sclera — a white structure — and the cornea, which is transparent. The sclera encompasses some of the ocular surface, most of which is not visible. However, the 'white of the eye' is distinctively visible in humans compared to other species. The cornea, a clear covering at the front of the eye, enables light penetration. The eye's middle layer, the vascular tunic,...
Association Areas of the Cortex01:21

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...
Gestalt Principles of Perception01:21

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Gestalt principles provide a framework for understanding how humans perceive objects as unified wholes within their context. These principles are essential in explaining the cognitive processes that make sense of complex visual stimuli by organizing them into coherent groups. One fundamental principle is proximity, which posits that objects located close to each other are perceived as a collective group. For instance, when dots are positioned near one another, the visual system interprets them...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Rapid ensemble encoding of average scene features.

Journal of vision·2026
Same author

Evidence for dimensional representations and anticipatory dynamics in facial expression perception.

NeuroImage·2026
Same author

'Not so intuitive' physics: Orientation supersedes stability in prioritizing attention.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2025
Same author

Rapid development of inhibitory effects in response to novel features: It's mostly target-feature enhancement.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2025
Same author

Examining visual prior entry of semantic affective valences: positive is biased over negative.

Cognition & emotion·2025
Same author

Selectively attended information is obligatorily encoded into visual working memory.

Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance·2025
Same journal

Low prevalence targets are primarily missed due to mind wandering.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2026
Same journal

An introduction to the special issue celebrating Mary A. Peterson.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2026
Same journal

Properties of the threshold stimulus exposure duration (TSED) measure of visual search efficiency.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2026
Same journal

Auditory selective attention in depth: Investigating directional dependency across front, lateral, and rear spaces.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2026
Same journal

Dissociations between stereoacuity and visual acuity with binocular night vision goggles.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2026
Same journal

Reward-based prioritization and perceptual feature effects on attentional flexibility in working memory.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
06:46

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

Published on: March 18, 2019

The mind's average: Unseen, internally generated ensemble representations can guide visual attention.

Kristina Knox1,2, Jonathan S Cant3, Jay Pratt4

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G3, Canada. kristina.knox@mail.utoronto.ca.

Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|June 9, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Internally generated statistical representations, known as ensemble representations, can guide spatial attention. The strength of these ensemble representations influences whether attention is effectively deployed, showing a reciprocal interaction between attention and ensemble processing.

Keywords:
Attention and perceptionEnsemble perceptionSpatial attention

More Related Videos

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments
13:00

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Published on: January 23, 2017

VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation
10:41

VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation

Published on: March 25, 2011

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
06:46

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

Published on: March 18, 2019

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments
13:00

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Published on: January 23, 2017

VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation
10:41

VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation

Published on: March 25, 2011

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Visual Perception

Background:

  • Attention influences ensemble processing, which creates statistical summaries of visual scenes.
  • The reciprocal influence of ensemble representations on attention remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether internally generated ensemble representations can influence the deployment of spatial attention.
  • To determine if the strength of ensemble representations modulates attentional guidance.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments used a modified attentional cueing paradigm with an ensemble task.
  • Participants viewed arrays of ovals and performed either an ensemble or probe task.
  • Varying the proportion of ensemble task trials and the relationship of foil objects to the ensemble size manipulated representation strength.

Main Results:

  • Attentional guidance was observed when the foil object was outside the ensemble size range and ensemble task trials were frequent (Experiment 1).
  • No attentional guidance was found when ensemble task trials were infrequent, suggesting weaker internal representations (Experiment 2).

Conclusions:

  • Ensemble representations can actively influence the deployment of spatial attention.
  • The cognitive mechanisms of ensemble processing and spatial attention exhibit a reciprocal interaction.