Attention

INTRODUCTION

 Attention is the mental process of selectively focusing on a specific stimulus or task while ignoring
other stimuli.
 "Attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one object rather than upon another." –
William James
 Definition
 Attention is defined as the Act or state of applying the mind to
something. It is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating
on one thing or event by ignoring other things.
 Attention can be referred as a selection process. To attend to an
external event like sound, image, smell... or internal thoughts we
have to maintain a certain level of awareness. When we attend to
one stimulus, it is seen that we have removed our attention from
other stimuli. Our mind concentrates and selects only one
stimulus, which is best suited to it, for paying attention.
 It has been noted that we pay more attention to stimuli that are
meaningful or emotionally significant. Our motivational states whether
we are Hungry or Thirsty- play important roles in attention.
 Repeated exposure may also increase attention to particular stimuli. For
example, Prenatal auditory exposure explains why a four-day-old infant
listens to the mother’s voice by turning their head rather than to the
voice of other women.
 On the other hand exposure to constant stimulus can lead to
habituation. When we are living in a home near to forest, first the
sounds of birds and animals will make us to attend to it often, but after
a while, we no longer perceive this voice. Our brain is adapted to this
constant stimulus by turning it out.
 Attention is a process that “encodes language input, keeps it
active in working and short-term memory, and retrieves it from
long-term memory” (Robinson, 2003, p. 631). Attention refers to
focusing and processing information from our surroundings. It
involves the cognitive resources to focus on the object. Attention
varies from one situation to another.
 What is concentration?
 Attention is where your mind goes initially.
 Concentration is how long your mind stays there.
 Example: A student hears the teacher call their name (attention)
and then listens carefully and takes notes for the next 30 minutes
(concentration).
 Attention vs Concentration
Aspect Attention Concentration

The act of sustained and

The process of selectively focusing
Definition continuous attention to a single
on a particular stimulus
task or idea

Narrow and deep—maintaining focus

Nature Broad and general—initial focusing
over time

Duration Can be short-lived or momentary Requires prolonged mental effort

Involves sustained focus on one

Scope Involves selecting stimuli from many
selected stimulus

Mostly voluntary and requires

Level of Control Can be automatic or voluntary
mental discipline

Reading a book for 45 minutes

Example Noticing a loud sound in the room
without distraction
 Nature of Attention
 Attention is a mental process.
 There can be no attention in the absence of interest.
 The thought of conscious life is impossible in the absence of
attention.
 Attention creates readiness for performing a work.
 Attention is a selective process.
 Characteristics of Attention
 Attention is focusing consciousness on one object. One object is
the focus of attention. All other objects are in the margin of
attention.
 Attention is always changing. Attention is not a fixed state or
power of mind. It is an activity and cannot be centered round any
one object for a long time. Even though we may attend to the
same object, for some time, Attention is shifted from one aspect of
it to another.
 Attention increases the clarity of the object. When we pay our
attention to an object we clearly perceive what it is.
 Attention is selective. We may attend to one object in preference to
others. We may not draw attention to everything that comes in its way.
Those objects which have some special advantages can draw attention
and others are ignored, even when we pay attention.
 Attention is a state of preparedness where the muscles and sense organs
get ready themselves for taking in information from various stimuli.
 Attention is cognitive, affective and conative. There are mainly three
types of mental activity-knowing, feeling and willing. We must attend to a
particular thing at first in order to know, feel or act. Attention is common
to all these mental activities. The process of attention has all the three
aspects of conscious life- knowing, feeling and willing.
 Attention is a psychomotor response that brings stimulation from
the object which is in the focus of consciousness. When we listen
to a lecture on the platform, we hear only the words of the
speaker. We look at the platform and sit on the edge of our seats.
There is a motor attitude of tenseness and also sense organ
adjustments in retention. In case of visual attention, the eyes are
focussed and directed which involve mental as well as motor
adjustments.
 To attend to a particular thing means to be conscious of it more
keenly and intensely than anything else.
 Types of Attention
 Attention can be classified in different ways based on the stimuli
or the conscious or unconscious effort of the person involved in
the process of attention. One way of classifying attention is given
below.
 Selective attention
 The act of focussing on a particular object for a period of time while
simultaneously ignoring irrelevant information that is also occurring is called
as selective attention. In this we block out certain features of our environment
and focus on one particular feature. This occurs in a daily basis. Even though
many things occur in our daily life, we select stimuli which are important to
us. The degree to which one can use selective attention varies depending on
the person and his ability to focus or concentrate. The distractions in the
environment also affect Selective attention. Selective attention prevents us
from being flooded with extraneous information. Examples are listening to a
conversation in a noisy room, concentrating on the smell of the food than the
shows in the television, when we are hungry.
 Divided attention
 This refers to paying attention to two things at a time. Talking over phone
and doing cooking at the same time. It is the ability to process two or
more stimuli or react to two or more different acts simultaneously. It can
be referred to as multi-tasking. Basically, it refers to dividing our attention
between two or more tasks. Even though this type of attention is thought
of as the ability to focus on two or more stimuli or activities at the same
time, it is humanly impossible to concentrate completely on two different
tasks simultaneously because usually our brain can only process one task
at a time. So we are really not “focused” on one task at a time, instead we
are continuously alternating our attention between tasks. That is why it is
so difficult and dangerous to text and drive or talk and drive. It is difficult
to maintain attention and it also reduces the ability to remember.
 To some extent we are able to use divided attention successfully
because of muscle memory or habit. It helps us to perform two or
more tasks simultaneously such as reading music notes and
playing instruments, talking to a person while typing. However, in
this situation we are really not focusing on hand positions when
playing the instrument or concentrating on the individual acts of
typing or driving. We are able to do the task without conscious
effort or actually paying attention.
 Sustained attention
 Sustained attention It is the ability to focus on one specific task for
a longer period of time without being distracted. i.e. to
concentrate on a task, event or feature in our environment for a
prolonged period of time. For example, when people are doing
painting on a canvas they work with it for many hours or days
without any distraction. This work goes on for a longer period.
Listening to a lecture, playing video games, reading books are
some of the examples of sustained attention. Sustained attention
is not always constant. It can be slightly challenging. It can vary
from one task to another, moreover we may have a small
distraction while doing something for a longer period but the merit
is that we can refocus on the same task.
 Sustained attention is also related to attention span. It refers to continuously
focusing on things happening rather than loosing focus. Practice can increase
the span of attention. Attention span is our ability to keep our mind focused on
something through careful observing or listening. It can be just momentarily
such as turning around after hearing a loud noise, or it may be for a sustained
period of time such as playing a video game. Attention span is a measure for
how easily distracted a person is, and longer attention spans usually make it
easier for people to complete tasks and remain organized.
 A person’s attention span also affects social interactions; some people struggle
to remain focused on conversations without becoming distracted. A person’s
attention span varies with context and the type of task. Some people are able to
concentrate longer on certain kinds of tasks, such as games, reading, or
conversations, than they can focus on other types of tasks. Distraction-filled
environments can decrease a person’s attention span. People generally have
shorter attention spans in loud, chaotic environments or when they are
emotionally disturbed.
 Executive attention
 Executive attention Executive attention refers to the attention that we use when
we are making steps towards a particular end. It is associated with the planning
and working to attain the goal and involves monitoring our progress in the act. It
is used to describe one of the main components of a person's working memory.
Executive attention is characterized by the ability to effectively block outside
distractions while focusing on a single object or task. This could be explained with
an example. When children play by constructing a structure out of the different
toys or blocks available, they have to attend to the important parts needed for the
construction like building connections, colours and complete the structure, at the
same time ignoring the irrelevant parts. They plan and execute the job. In this
situation, the planned behaviour selectively enhances the attention to a particular
aspect and inhibits attention to things that are irrelevant. This type of executive
functioning that guides the planned behaviour can be called as executive
attention.
 Alternative attention
 One more type of attention can also be there namely alternating
attention. In this type, we shift our focus of attention and move
between different tasks having different cognitive needs. This
involves alternating our attention back and forth between two
different tasks that require the use of different areas our brain. We
often use this type of attention in our life. Best example is cooking
from reading a recipe from a book or internet. We may use
alternating attention in this situation. We read the recipe then, take
the ingredients and perform cooking. In between when we have
doubt again we read from the book and then cook. Here we are
shifting our attention from one task to another and go back and forth
 Types of attention based on the level of Cognitive Regulation
 Involuntary Attention: At times the attention is diverted towards
some other activity without any conscious effort, may be against the
will of the individual. This is known as involuntary attention. For
example, even though we may listen to a lecture with all interest,
some loud noise outside the room may draw our attention towards it.
 Voluntary Attention: When an individual divert his attention towards
a particular activity or situation deliberately, may not be diverted
spontaneously, but after some struggle, it can be referred to as
voluntary attention. For example, while sitting in a class, in order to
pass the examination, the students divert their attention towards the
lecture even if it is not interesting.
 Factors affecting attention
 There are several factors that can affect attention. Each of these
factors can increase or decrease a person’s attention to a certain
object, person or concept. These could be classified under two
broad categories namely external factors and internal
factors.
 External factors
 Factors which are present outside the stimuli or situation refer to external
factors. These can also be called as objective factors. This involves:
motion, size, intensity, novelty, emotion, personal significance and social
cues.
 Motion: Adults and children are more likely to pay attention to an object
when there is motion involved. (Ormrod, 2008). Example: Children are
more drawn to toys and objects that move such as toy cars, moving dolls.
 Size: Size has an effect on attention. Objects or text that is larger gain
more attention than normal or small objects. At the same time very small
objects too draws our attention when compared to normal size. When a
dwarf man is seen, people will have a tendency to look at the person.
 Intensity: Intense objects attract our attention. Loud sound, bright objects
and strong smell draws our attention easily.
 Contrast: Anything that is different from its surroundings is contrast. A
black dust in white sugar draws more attention
 Novelty: New things attract people more. Students pay more attention
to a new way of teaching or a new teacher. "Stimuli that are novel or
unusual tend to draw people's attention." (Ormrod, 2008, p. 172)
 Emotion: Words with strong emotional connections seem to gain more
attention than others.
 Personal Significance: A person is more likely to pay attention to a
person or concept that has a personal significance to them. Example:
If a person suffers from a disease, they are more likely to pay
attention to a lecture about that disease, because they know how it
could affect their lives.
 Social cues: “People are more likely to pay attention to things they
see others looking at or reacting to (Ormrod, 2008, p. 173)”. Example:
When we see a crowd of people looking at something we will also try
to find out what the group is reacting to, its Human curiosity.
Determinant Description Example

Intensity Stronger stimuli are more noticeable A fire alarm during quiet reading

Size Larger items attract more attention A large billboard vs. a small sign

Sharp difference between stimulus and

Contrast A neon sign on a dark street
background

Moving stimuli are more attention-

Movement A waving hand in a still crowd
grabbing than stationary ones

Sudden changes in environment catch

Change Lights suddenly going off
attention

Novelty New or unfamiliar stimuli draw attention A child noticing a new toy in the room

Repeated exposure can gain (or lose) An ad jingle played repeatedly may
Repetition
attention become catchy (or ignored)
 Internal factors
 Internal factors Internal factors are concerned with the individual. Hence it is
also called as subjective factors.
 Interest: People always give more attention to stimuli or situation in which
they are interested. Interesting things draws our attention immediately. A
Singer may give more attention to songs when he travels instead of the
beautiful buildings on the way, whereas an Architect may show more
attention towards the Beautiful buildings. Attention and Interest are
interconnected and mutually dependent. They are like two sides of a coin. To
pay attention to an object, a person or an activity is to have interest in them.
Mc Dougall has very cogently said, “Interest is latent attention and attention
is interest in action.” The interest of a person plays a key role in determining
one’s attention. Each of our interests may be regarded as a powerful
stimulus to draw our attention to a particular thing, person or an activity
 Desire: People pay attention to things which they desire for. When we
go to a shop we give more attention to materials that we desire to buy
than to other materials.
 Motives: Basic motives are so powerful and are important in drawing
attention. A person who is hungry will pay more attention to places
where food is available.
 Goal: People will be paying attention to activities which will help them
to achieve their goal. Students pay more attention to studies before
examination as their goal is to pass/ excel in the examination
 Past experience: It is also a factor that influences attention. For
example, the past experiences with certain persons make us think that
they are sincere and we may give attention to their communication
than to people who were not sincere to us.
 Attention is one of the factors identified as significant for
knowledge increase. It allows us to give priority to the
unexpected. It also allows us for efficient filtering and exploration
of the information, We use attention to point awareness in two
ways.
 We either see the whole picture directly, or we see it indirectly
through the mind. Try it out. Listen to a sound—any sound. If you
label it and interpret it, you are giving it attention through the
mind, through thoughts. Now just hear it.
 There is no time-delay between hearing the sound and sensing.
It’s a sound in awareness. Attention in this case is direct, not
Determinant Description Example

A sports fan notices match scores on a

Interest Personal preferences direct attention
news ticker

Motivation Goal-directed behavior increases attention A student is more attentive before exams

Searching specifically for “red apples” in a

Mental Set Readiness to perceive a certain stimulus
fruit basket

Previous knowledge shapes current A musician quickly notices a wrong note

Past Experience
attention during a performance

Anxiety, excitement, or sadness can An anxious person may fixate only on

Emotional State
narrow or widen attention threats in their surroundings

Repeated exposure or routine increases Automatically checking messages first

Habit
likelihood of attention thing in the morning

Expecting a guest leads to noticing

Expectation What we expect influences what we notice
doorbell sounds more keenly
 Summary
 The importance of the role of attention is recognized not only by
psychologists but also by academicians and people involved in
knowledge management. Attention is needed to effectively deal
with the huge amount of sensory information. The more we have
sustained attention; it is likely that we could succeed in our life.