Attentional Control

Attentional control (AC) is described as the general ability to control attention in relation to positive or negative information. AC is composed of two foundational processes: focusing and shifting attention. Attention involves three functional processes, which differ neuroanatomically through areas of white matter connectivity and represent distinct neural networks: alerting, orienting, and executive control. Depending on the research, these same processes have been labeled alertness, selectivity, and processing capacity, and the extant research stressed that they were separable and dissociable components of attention. The ongoing study of attention continues to try to move to better definitions and distinctions of the construct and the underlying processes. Individuals can experience difficulty within various points within these attention systems, while others may show strengths and weaknesses in different systems and within systems, depending upon both internal and external variables. This leads to the idea that there can be numerous points of disruption to attentional processes that can lead to the same functional outcome but, in many instances, lead to discrete attentional problems.