A "hugely influential"[7] theory regarding selective attention is the perceptual load theory, which states that there are two mechanisms that affect attention: cognitive and perceptual. The perceptual mechanism considers the subject's ability to perceive or ignore stimuli, both...
The cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie this process are key topics of investigation in cognitive psychology. One of the more prominent theories of attention is perceptual load theory, which suggests that the efficiency of selective attention is dependent on both perceptual...
Cognitive control is greatly impacted by the level of perceptual and cognitive load at any given time, which makes load an important factor to consider. Rather than considering tinnitus through the general depletion or controlled processing hypotheses...

High perceptual load reduces distractor interference in visual tasks, while cognitive load increases it. Individual differences significantly impact distractor processing, with age and cognitive capacity as key factors.
Indeed, by distinguishing the perceptual and cognitive loads of a task (Lavie & Dalton, 2014), 47 48. this theory delineates a clear theoretical framework for contemplating the results of these.

Furthermore, visual representations like the one above help us fully grasp the concept of Perceptual Loading And Cognitive Load.
We illustrate the potential differences in load with a study that applies the perceptual load theory to devaluation of advertisements that are placed peripherally around a web browser game that utilizes levels of either cognitive or perceptual load.
Results indicate that cognitive load and perceptual load influence task performance, reaction time variability (RTV), and brain network topology in an ADHD-specific fashion.
Perceptual load has also been shown to modulate brain activity re-lated to distractors whether these are visible (Rees et al., 1997; Schwartz et al., 2005; Yi, Woodman, Widders, Marois, & Chun, 2004) or even invisible (Bahrami, Lavie, and Rees, 2007).