Holds information about stimuli for a brief period time (a fraction of a second) and then transfers it to the filter.

Sensory memory in the filter model of attention

Identifies the message that should be focused on and passes on only that message (discarding irrelevant content) to the detector.

Filter in the filter model of attention

Processes the information received from the filter to only retain higher-level characteristics of the message (such as meaning). 

Detector in the filter model of attention

In the University of Michigan PSYCH 240 version of the filter model of attention, two stages of the standard diagram are relabeled: a 'Detection' stage replaces 'sensory memory' and is responsible for detecting the existence of different stimuli, while a 'Recognition' stage replaces the 'detector' and is responsible for recognizing the meaning of a stimulus.

UofM PSYCH 240 version of the filter model of attention diagram

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

There exists different models to map the process of attending to something. These include:
- The filter model of attention (early)
- Treisman's attenuation model (intermediate)
- Late selection models

Models of attention selection

Goldstein, E. B. (2014). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience. Nelson Education.


Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience

Treisman's attenuation model (intermediate selection)

Side-by-side comparison of the different models of attention (early, intermediate and late selection)

Posits that the selecting of where direct one's attention goes on after most of the meaning for a message has already been processed.

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