A Cognitive Model for Visual Attention and Its Application

In this paper a cognitive model for visual attention is introduced. The cognitive model is part of the design of a software agent that supports a naval warfare officer in its task to compile a tactical picture of the situation in the field. An executable formal specification of the cognitive model is given and a case study is described in which the model is used to simulate a human subject's attention. The foundation of the model is based on formal specification of representation relations for attentional states, specifying their intended meaning. The model has been automatically verified against these relations.