ATTENTION

TOPICS: Basic Concepts: Divided attention, Selective Attention; Theories and current
developments: Bottleneck and Capacity theories; Automatic and Controlled processing,
switching attention.
Meaning and Definition of Attention:
Attention is the term used or given to the perceptual processes that select certain inputs for
inclusion in our conscious experience, or awareness at any given time. It is the process involving
the act of listening, and concentrating on a topic, object or event for the attainment of desired
ends.

“Attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one object other than upon another”—
Dumville.

“Attention is the process of getting an object or thought clearly before the mind”—Ross.

“Attention is being keenly alive to some specific factors in our environment. It is a preparatory
adjustment for response”—Morgan.

Thus attention is essentially process and not a product. It helps in our awareness or
consciousness of our environment, which is of selective kind, because in a given time, we can
concentrate or focus our consciousness on a particular object only.

The concentration provided by the process of attention helps us in the clarity of the perception of
the perceived object or phenomenon. Thus attention is not merely a cognitive factor but is
essentially determined by emotions, interest, attitude and memory.

Thus attention is a process which is carried out through cognitive abilities and helped by
emotional and behavioural factors to select something out of the various stimuli present in one’s
environment and bring it in the centre of one’s consciousness in order to perceive it clearly for
deriving the desired end.

Types of Attention:
Varieties are zeroed (nullified) by classification of Ross.

According to him attention is branched with:

(a) Non-volitional or Involuntary Attention:
This type of attention is aroused without the play of will. Here we attend to an object or
condition without making any conscious effort, e.g. a mother’s attention towards her crying
child, for example, attention towards the members of the opposite sex, and towards bright
colours, etc.

The attention which is aroused by the instincts is called “enforced non-volitional attention”. A
young man when we remark on his sex instinct or his curiosity, he becomes quite attentive in his
task.

The other subtype of non-volitional attention, produced by the sentiments is called “spontaneous
non-volitional attention”. It is the result of properly developed sentiment, towards the object, or
idea of a person around which our sentiments are formed with.

(b) Volitional or Voluntary Attention:

When the ‘exercised will’ is called upon, it becomes volitional attention. Because it demands the
conscious efforts on our part it is least automatic and spontaneous like that of non-volitional
attention. Attention payed at the time of solving an assigned problem of mathematics, answering
question in an examination hall and so on comes under volitional attention category.

Volitional attention is further subdivided into two categories:

i. A single act of volition is sufficient to bring about attention in the case of implicit attention,
e.g. for single act of will can arouse attention.

ii. In explicit volitional attention we need repeated acts of will to sustain it, e.g. here attention is
obtained by repeated acts of will.

Determinants of Attention:
One of two types.

1. External factors or condition

2. Internal factors

I. External Factors or Condition:

These conditions are generally those characteristics of outside situation or stimuli which make
the strongest aid for capturing our attention.

These can be classified as:

1. Nature of the stimulus:
All types of stimuli are not able to bring the same degree of attention. A picture attracts attention
more readily than words. Among the pictures, the pictures of human beings invite more attention
and those of human beings related to beautiful women or handsome men, who attract more
attention. In this way an effective stimulus should always be chosen for capturing maximum
attention.

2. Intensity and size of the stimulus:

In comparison with the weak stimulus, the immense stimulus attracts more attention of an
individual. Our attention become easily directed towards a loud sound, a bright light or a strong
smell, and also a large building will be more readily attended to, than a small one.

3. Contrast, change and variety:

Change and variety strike attention more easily than sameness and absence of change, e.g. we do
not notice the ticking sound of a clock put on the wall until it stops ticking, that is any change in
the attention to which you have been attracted immediately capture your attention. The factor,
contact or change is highly responsible for capturing attention of the organism and contributes
more than the intensity, size or nature of the stimulus.

4. Repetition of stimulus:
Repetition is the factor of great importance in securing attention. Because one may ignore a
stimulus at first instance, but if it is repeated for several times it captures our attention, e.g. a
miss-spelled word is more likely to be noticed, if it occurs twice in the same paragraph than, if it
occurs only once. While giving lecture the important aspects of the speech are often repeated so
that the attention of the audience can be easily directed to the valuable points.

5. Movement of the stimulus:

The moving stimulus catches our attention more quickly than a stimulus that does not move. We
are more sensitive to objects that move in our field of vision, e.g. advertisers make use of this
fact and try to catch the attention of people through moving electric lights.

Duration and Degree of Attention:

People may possess the ability to grasp a number of objects or in other words, to attend a number
of stimuli in one short “presentation”. This ability of an individual is evaluated in terms of the
span of attention, which differs from person to person and even situation to situation.

The term “span of attention” is designed in terms of the quality, size extent to which the
perceptual field of an individual can be effectively organized in order to enable him to attain a
number of things in a given spell of short duration.

II. Internal or Subjective Factors:

These factors predispose the individual to respond to objective factors, to attend to those
activities that fulfill his desires and motives and suit his interest and attitude. It is the mental state
of the perceiver.

Some of the subjective factors are:

1. Interest:
Interest is said to be the mother of attention. We attend to objects in which we have interest. We
would like to watch a movie or a serial in TV because we are interested in the subject around
which the movie or serial revolves. In any get-together if any subject of our interest is discussed
that attracts our attention easily and makes us to participate in the discussion. In our day-to-day
life we pay attention to the stimulus we are interested in.

2. Motives:
Our basic needs and motives to a great extent, determine our attention, thirst, hunger, sex,
curiosity, fear are some of the important motives that influence attention, e.g. small children get
attracted towards eatables.

3. Mind set:
Person’s readiness to respond determines his attention. If we are expecting a stimulus,
occurrence of that stimulus along with many other stimuli may not come in the way of attending
to that particular stimulus. At a time when students are expecting the examination time table by
the end of the semester the time table put out on the notice board along with other notices would
attract their attention easily.

4. Moods and attitudes:

What we attend to is influenced by the moods and attitudes. When we are disturbed or in angry
mood, we notice the smallest mistake of others very easily. Likewise our favourable and
unfavourable attitudes also determine our attention. After discussing subjective and objective
factors, we realize that these factors are interrelated. How much or in what way we attend to a
stimulus depends on subjective as well as objective factors.

Selective Attention

Selective attention refers to the ability to focus on one specific task or stimulus while ignoring
others. It's like tuning into a single radio station while disregarding the other channels. For
instance, imagine you're at a busy cafe trying to read a book despite the noise around you. Your
selective attention allows you to concentrate on your reading while filtering out the
conversations and clattering dishes.

Divided attention

Divided attention, on the other hand, involves multitasking or splitting your focus between two
or more tasks simultaneously. It's like trying to juggle multiple balls at once. For example, think
about driving a car while having a conversation with a passenger. Your divided attention allows
you to perform both activities, although your focus isn't entirely dedicated to either task.
In summary, selective attention involves concentrating on one thing while ignoring others,
whereas divided attention involves handling multiple tasks at the same time. Both are essential
cognitive skills that help us navigate through daily activities, although they work differently in
terms of focus and concentration.

Absolutely! Attention is a complex cognitive process that involves selecting and focusing on
specific information while filtering out other stimuli. Here are detailed explanations of the
concepts you mentioned:

**2. Divided Attention:** This refers to the ability to focus on multiple tasks or stimuli
simultaneously. Divided attention allows individuals to perform multiple tasks at the same time,
though it may impact performance as attention is divided among tasks.

**3. Selective Attention:** This is the ability to selectively focus on one task or stimulus while
filtering out other distractions. It enables individuals to prioritize information for processing.

### Theories and Current Developments:

**1. Bottleneck Theory:** This theory suggests that there's a processing limit in the brain, a
bottleneck, which restricts the amount of information that can be processed at any given time.
When there's an overload of information, a bottleneck occurs, limiting the processing of some
information while allowing the prioritization of others.

**2. Capacity Theories:** These theories propose that attention has limited capacity, and when
this capacity is exceeded, performance decreases. This can be due to limitations in the brain's
ability to process information or allocate resources efficiently.

**3. Automatic and Controlled Processing:**

- **Automatic Processing:** Refers to tasks that require minimal attention and are performed
almost instinctively or involuntarily. Examples include routine actions like driving a familiar
route.
 - **Controlled Processing:** This involves tasks that demand full conscious attention and
effort. Learning a new skill or solving complex problems usually requires controlled processing.

### Switching Attention:

**Switching Attention:** It's the ability to shift focus from one task or stimulus to another. This
can be voluntary or involuntary and is crucial in tasks that require flexibility and adaptability.

Current developments in attention research often involve neuroimaging techniques like fMRI
and EEG to study brain activity during attentional tasks. There's also a growing interest in
understanding how attention functions in the context of technology, such as how prolonged
screen time affects attentional capacities.

### Applications:

Understanding attention has applications in various fields like education (optimizing learning
environments), human-computer interaction (designing user-friendly interfaces), psychology
(studying disorders like ADHD), and neuroscience (mapping brain networks related to attention).

Would you like to delve deeper into any specific aspect or need more information on any
particular topic related to attention?