Filtering

Definition

A theoretical construct developed by Donald Broadbent to account for the attention process by which information could be reduced to enable efficient serial processing following initial parallel sensory processing. A mechanism that was analogous to a physical filter, which would allow only a limited amount of information to flow through this processing bottleneck, was proposed.

Historical Background

The filter theory of selective attention was a direct by-product of scientific developments occurring in the fields of cybernetics during World War II with advances in information theory related to communication transmission and subsequently computer science. The concept of an attentional filter arose out of information processing theory, which recognized that there was a central need in the field of cognitive psychology to account for mechanisms by which the amount of information processed following initial sensory registration is reduced to manageable levels. This was based on...