Attention in a Social World

The study of attention is central to psychology. In this work, Michael Posner, a pioneer in attention research, presents the science of attention in a larger social context, which includes our ability to voluntarily choose and act upon an object of thought. The volume is based on fifty years of research involving behavioral, imaging, developmental, and genetic methods. It describes three brain networks of attention that carry out the functions of obtaining and maintaining the alert state, orienting to sensory events, and regulating responses. The book ties these brain networks to anatomy, connectivity, development, and socialization and includes material on pathologies that involve attentional networks, as well as their role in education and social interaction.

Michael Posner is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Oregon and Adjunct Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell, where he served as founding director of the Sackler Institute. Posner is well known for his work with Marcus Raichle on imaging the human brain during cognitive tasks. A volume Images of Mind resulted from that collaboration. He has worked on the anatomy, circuitry, development and genetics of three attentional networks underlying maintaining alertness, orienting to sensory events and voluntary control of thoughts and ideas. His methods for measuring these networks have been applied to a wide range of neurological, psychiatric and developmental disorders. His current research involves training of attention in young children and adults to understand the interaction of specific experience and genes in shaping attention. A volume describing this work, Educating the Human Brain with M.K. Rothbart, has been published by APA Books.
His work has been recognized by numerous awards including 7 honorary degrees, election to the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, and most recently the National Medal of Science. At Oxford University Press, he is former US Delegate in Psychology.