An Active Inference Model of Covert and Overt Visual Attention

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Mišić, Tin, Koledić, Karlo, Bonsignorio, Fabio, Petrović, Ivan, Marković, Ivan
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Mišić, Tin
Koledić, Karlo
Bonsignorio, Fabio
Petrović, Ivan
Marković, Ivan
author_facet Mišić, Tin
Koledić, Karlo
Bonsignorio, Fabio
Petrović, Ivan
Marković, Ivan
contents The ability to selectively attend to relevant stimuli while filtering out distractions is essential for agents that process complex, high-dimensional sensory input. This paper introduces a model of covert and overt visual attention through the framework of active inference, utilizing dynamic optimization of sensory precisions to minimize free-energy. The model determines visual sensory precisions based on both current environmental beliefs and sensory input, influencing attentional allocation in both covert and overt modalities. To test the effectiveness of the model, we analyze its behavior in the Posner cueing task and a simple target focus task using two-dimensional(2D) visual data. Reaction times are measured to investigate the interplay between exogenous and endogenous attention, as well as valid and invalid cueing. The results show that exogenous and valid cues generally lead to faster reaction times compared to endogenous and invalid cues. Furthermore, the model exhibits behavior similar to inhibition of return, where previously attended locations become suppressed after a specific cue-target onset asynchrony interval. Lastly, we investigate different aspects of overt attention and show that involuntary, reflexive saccades occur faster than intentional ones, but at the expense of adaptability.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_03856
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An Active Inference Model of Covert and Overt Visual Attention
Mišić, Tin
Koledić, Karlo
Bonsignorio, Fabio
Petrović, Ivan
Marković, Ivan
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Artificial Intelligence
Neurons and Cognition
I.2.6; I.2.10
The ability to selectively attend to relevant stimuli while filtering out distractions is essential for agents that process complex, high-dimensional sensory input. This paper introduces a model of covert and overt visual attention through the framework of active inference, utilizing dynamic optimization of sensory precisions to minimize free-energy. The model determines visual sensory precisions based on both current environmental beliefs and sensory input, influencing attentional allocation in both covert and overt modalities. To test the effectiveness of the model, we analyze its behavior in the Posner cueing task and a simple target focus task using two-dimensional(2D) visual data. Reaction times are measured to investigate the interplay between exogenous and endogenous attention, as well as valid and invalid cueing. The results show that exogenous and valid cues generally lead to faster reaction times compared to endogenous and invalid cues. Furthermore, the model exhibits behavior similar to inhibition of return, where previously attended locations become suppressed after a specific cue-target onset asynchrony interval. Lastly, we investigate different aspects of overt attention and show that involuntary, reflexive saccades occur faster than intentional ones, but at the expense of adaptability.
title An Active Inference Model of Covert and Overt Visual Attention
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Artificial Intelligence
Neurons and Cognition
I.2.6; I.2.10
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.03856