The Theory of Visual Attention (TVA) continues to be developed as a powerful quantitative framework for understanding attentional selection and capacity. Current research applies TVA across diverse contexts and methodologies. This symposium presents new theoretical developments, methodological advances, and applied perspectives that extend TVA’s reach and precision and sometimes challenge its present state. Estela Carmona investigates how self-relevant information shapes attentional parameters, offering insights into the role of personal significance in visual selection. Anders Petersen follows by introducing advances in modeling enumeration data within the TVA framework, extending the set of tasks that can be used with TVA. Kai Biermeier, Ngoc Chi Banh, and Ingrid Scharlau test the applicability of TVA to online scenarios and identify methodological challenges in the online estimation of attentional processing speed. Tobias Peters, Kai Biermeier, and Ingrid Scharlau apply TVA measures of attention to human–AI interaction, examining whether attentional signatures can indicate adaptive distrust. Finally, Jan Tünnermann and Ingrid Scharlau revisit lateral asymmetries in visual processing, presenting updated findings on left–right visual field differences within TVA. Together, these contributions demonstrate the continuing vitality of TVA research and its capacity to inform theoretical, methodological, and applied perspectives on visual attention but also challenges that have to be addressed. Part 2 of the symposium will turn to attentional changes in diverse populations.