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A lexicon of attention: from cognitive science to phenomenology

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Abstract

This article tries to create a bridge of understanding between cognitive scientists and phenomenologists who work on attention. In light of a phenomenology of attention and current psychological and neuropsychological literature on attention, I translate and interpret into phenomenological terms 20 key cognitive science concepts as examined in the laboratory and used in leading journals. As a preface to the lexicon, I outline a phenomenology of attention, especially as a dynamic three-part structure, which I have freely amended from the work of phenomenologist and Gestalt philosopher Aron Gurwitsch (1901–1973). As a conclusion, I discuss the nature of subjectivity in attention and attention research, and whether attention might be the same as consciousness.

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Arvidson, P.S. A lexicon of attention: from cognitive science to phenomenology. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 2, 99–132 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024895827774

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