One of the kinds of pattern which serve to govern the distribution of attention in the attentional system. The window of attention pattern involves the explicit mention of some part or parts of an event (‘windowing’), while other parts may be omitted (‘gapping’). The windowing pattern differs from the focus of attention pattern which focuses attention on participants. For instance, a path of motion consists of a beginning, a middle and an end.

In the following examples, the whole path of motion is windowed in (1), whereas in the examples in (2–4) only the initial, medial or final portion of the path is windowed, respectively:

1. The champagne cork shot out of the bottle, through the air and into Jane’s eye
2. The champagne cork shot out of the bottle (initial)
3. The champagne cork shot through the air (medial)
4. The champagne cork shot into Jane’s eye (final)