Competition with and without priority control: linking rivalry to attention through winner‐take‐all networks with memory

Abstract

Competition is ubiquitous in perception. For example, items in the visual field compete for processing resources, and attention controls their priority (biased competition). The inevitable ambiguity in the interpretation of sensory signals yields another form of competition: distinct perceptual interpretations compete for access to awareness. Rivalry, where two equally likely percepts compete for dominance, explicates the latter form of competition. Building upon the similarity between attention and rivalry, we propose to model rivalry by a generic competitive circuit that is widely used in the attention literature—a winner-take-all (WTA) network. Specifically, we show that a network of two coupled WTA circuits replicates three common hallmarks of rivalry: the distribution of dominance durations, their dependence on input strength (“Levelt’s propositions”) and the effects of stimulus removal (blanking). This model introduces a form of memory by forming discrete states and explains experimental data better than competitive models of rivalry without memory. This result supports the crucial role of memory in rivalry specifically and in competitive processes in general. Our approach unifies the seemingly distinct phenomena of rivalry, memory, and attention in a single model with competition as the common underlying principle.

Introduction to Competitive Visual Processing Across Space and Time: Attention, Memory, and Prediction

“…As an alternative measure for access to perceptual awareness, Marx, Gruenhage, Walper, Rutishauser, and Einhäuser use dominance in rivalry. They demonstrate that a neuronal model that forms a memory state predicts the distribution of such dominance over time better than alternative models without memory, thereby linking competition for awareness to memory …”

“…They demonstrate that a neuronal model that forms a memory state predicts the distribution of such dominance over time better than alternative models without memory, thereby linking competition for awareness to memory. 30 In addition to the multifaceted behavioral links between attention on the one hand and working memory, long-term memory, and prediction on the other hand, several studies in this issue address neural substrates of such interactions. Zelinsky and Bisley review the concept of priority maps for attentional guidance.…”