The Oscillatory Nature of Attention
Before describing the perceptual, or latent inhibitionary paradigm, it is important to preface with a view of attention somewhat different from the typically-used and somewhat broad definition cognitive psychology currently gives us. That is, I believe the capacity of attention is not fixed, but dynamic and fluid in nature - a subtle capacity, much like intelligence, which differs from person to person.
Moreover, I think its important to consider the bi-directional nature of the it’s flow. That is, a directly proportional relationship between attention and stimulation, the inlet of one being so tied to the outlet of the other that it is reasonable to refer to them as one singular function.
Much like the crashing of waves against a beach, attention is very much an oscillating cycle; a volume of outward flow which breaks against the shore of physicality, and recedes back in gathered force, stimuli. This magnetic “pulling in” force is tied to the magnitude of one’s attentional focus. In the experience of psilocybin and other psychedelic compounds, the capacity of attention is felt to increase and the influx of stimulation can be overwhelming, in its bliss or torment dependent on the nature and object of its focus. Huxley saw a rose, and in that rose he saw all the subtle world-within-world he had never been able to perceive. The doors of his perception flung open, the dam which restrained the inflow of attention bust open.