Attention, spatial representation and visual neglect: Simulating emergent attention and spatial memory in the Selective Attention for Identification Model (SAIM)

The selective attention for identification model (SAIM) is presented. This uses a spatial window to select visual information for recognition, binding parts to objects and generating translation-invariant recognition. The model provides a qualitative account of both normal and disordered, attention. Simulations of normal attention demonstrate 2-object costs and effects of object - familiarity on selection, global precedence, spatial cueing, and inhibition of return. When lesioned, SAIM demonstrated either view- or object-centered neglect or spatial extinction, depending on the type and extent of lesion. The model provides-a framework to-unify (a) object- and space-based theories of normal selection, (b) dissociations, within the syndrome of unilateral neglect, and (c) attentional and representational accounts of neglect.