Michael Posner (b. 1936) is one of the most influential researchers in attention and cognitive neuroscience. His experimental paradigms, theoretical models, and neuroimaging research have shaped our understanding of how the brain controls attention. The Posner cueing paradigm (1980) became the standard method for studying spatial attention, and his theory of three attentional networks (alerting, orienting, executive) provides the dominant framework for understanding attention as a brain system.
The Posner Cueing Paradigm
In Posner's paradigm, a cue directs attention to one location, followed by a target at either the cued (valid) or uncued (invalid) location. Responses are faster to validly cued targets (attentional benefit) and slower to invalidly cued targets (attentional cost), demonstrating that attention can be covertly shifted (without moving the eyes) to enhance processing at attended locations. This paradigm has been used in thousands of studies and revealed fundamental properties of spatial attention including the distinction between exogenous (stimulus-driven) and endogenous (goal-directed) orienting.
Posner proposed that attention is not a single entity but involves three functionally and anatomically distinct networks: the alerting network (achieving and maintaining a state of readiness, involving norepinephrine pathways and right frontal and parietal cortex), the orienting network (selecting information from sensory input, involving parietal cortex, frontal eye fields, and superior colliculus), and the executive attention network (conflict monitoring and resolution, involving anterior cingulate and lateral prefrontal cortex). The Attention Network Test (ANT) measures the efficiency of all three networks in a single behavioral task.