In the series of experiments supported by this grant, some fundamental characteristics of the concept of attention were explored. The first experiments were based upon the assumption that attention is limited and consequently that adult subjects may only be able to perceive a fairly restricted portion of the stimuli available to them at any moment in time. Our later studies, however, seem to indicate that this assumption is only partially correct. While it still seems true that attentional capacity is limited, the limitation probably occurs at the levels of language and thought. By contrast, perceptual capacity seems to be much less limited than had earlier been thought. The evidence for this statement comes in part from studies in which subjects were able to extract information from up to eight stimulus elements as quickly and accurately as from a single element. (Author)