This thesis investigates the mechanisms of stimulus-driven visual attention (global saliency), the mechanisms of top-down visual attention, and the interaction between these mechanisms, in visual... Show moreThis thesis investigates the mechanisms of stimulus-driven visual attention (global saliency), the mechanisms of top-down visual attention, and the interaction between these mechanisms, in visual search. Following the outline of an existing model of top-down visual attention, namely the Closed-Loop Attention Model (CLAM), simulations in this thesis explore mechanisms of visual working memory in the prefrontal cortex and of object recognition in the ventral pathway, and specify mechanisms of spatial selection in the dorsal pathway. Behavioral experiments additionally address several questions regarding stimulus-driven and top-down visual attention in visual search, and their interaction. The findings of the simulations and behavioral experiments have implications for CLAM in particular, and for the mechanisms of global saliency and top-down visual attention in general. Show less
