EXPERIMENT 7

SPAN OF ATTENTION

Introduction:
Attention is the act of focusing of our consciousness on the object. It is selective in nature. At
any moment numerous stimuli act upon our sense organs. Only the objects that attract our
attention are selected and noticed. Shifting of attention, fluctuation of attention, division of
attention, span of attention and distraction of attention have been experimentally studied.

The maximum number of items recognized by an individual in one act of attentionis his/her span
of attention. Span of attention is determined by exposing a number of letters for 2 very brief
period using an apparatus called Tachistoscope. This instrument is a wooden board with a slit at
the center and an exposure plate behind and a latch to hold the plate. With some simple
operations a card with letters of numbers or pictures could be exposed for a short duration of
time through the slit. The average span of an adult is 3-4 letters or 4-5 numbers. But when a
word that is familiar to the participant is presented, it may be reported even though it has 15
letters. This is called span of apprehension rather than span of attention. It has been found that
the span of apprehension will be higher than span of attention. This finding helps us in
understanding the importance of presentation of the meaningful concepts in teaching.

Review of Literature
1. Reaction Time as a Measure of Span of Attention
By: I.J and W.R Garner

Perception has been defined as the length of time during which neither the counting nor more
than one visual fixation is possible. The span is not constant. The size of span varies with a
number of other specified conditions such as the kind or size of stimulus objects or the
illumination of stimulus field. The span is essentially not different from other types of
perceptions that are dependent on the stimulus, the time of its exposure, the illumination and
other similar variables.
 2. Span of attention, backward masking, and reaction time
By: Tadasu and Ichihara

The test pattern consisted of 0 - 15 dots and a random dot masking pattern which was
presented for 5 msec each with SOAs varying between 30 and 200 msec. The subject was
asked to report the perceived no of dots in the test pattern. The span of attention increased
from 2.4 to 9.5 with the SOA. The backward masking reduced the reported number of dots
from the actual number in the test pattern, especially with small SOAs. It was concluded that
the number of dots and confidence rating were both determined by the number of stimulus
dots and the SOA and that the reaction time was determined by the so-determined perceived
number of dots and level of confidence.

Reference
1. Saltzman, I. J., & Garner, W. R. (1948). Reaction time as a measure of span of attention. The
Journal of psychology, 25(2), 227-241.
2. Oyama, T., Kikuchi, T., & Ichihara, S. (1981). Span of attention, backward masking, and reaction
time. Perception & Psychophysics, 29(2), 106-112.

Problem:
To determine the visual span of attention for nonsense syllables and words.

Plan:
The experiment is conducted in two series
a) Nonsense syllables
b) Words; the attention span in the two series is compared.

Hypothesis:
The visual span of attention for meaningful words is greater than it is for nonsense syllables.

Variables:
Independent Variable: The two sets of cards
Dependent Variable: The participants span of attention
Materials:
1. Tachistoscope
2. Cards having nonsense syllables (28 cards ranging from 3 to 9 letters each group containing 4
cards).
3. Words (52 cards ranging from 3 to 15 cards each group containing 4 cards).
4. Writing materials
5. Wooden screen

Procedure:
The participant is seated comfortably 2-3 ft. away from of the tachistoscope. The tachistoscope is
kept in such a way that its aperture is directly in front of the participant's eye. The participant is
asked to look at the aperture while taking the experiment. The experimenter will stand by the
side of the tachistoscope. Cards are kept behind a screen so that the participant will not able to
see it.
I series: Nonsense syllables: The falling door of the tachistoscope is to be lifted up. The first
card from the nonsense syllables lot (3 letter words) is placed in box provided behind the slit.
The participant is given the following instructions.
"Please keep looking at the aperture. With the ready signal, I will expose a series of cards having
a few letters through this slit at a speed, approximately 1/10 of a second. You have to observe it
carefully and immediately after each exposure, you have to write the letters that you have seen
there. In this same manner I shall expose a series of cards continuously. You have to keep
reproducing the same after each exposure".
With these instructions the experimenter will expose the card one after the other from the same
group i.e., 3 letters X 4 cards, 4 Letters X 4 Cards, 5 letters X 4 cards and so on.
After each card is exposed, the experimenter has to assign 1 mark for a correct letter written in
the correct order. Half a mark is assigned for a correct letter in a wrong order and zero mark for
the incorrect letter in any order. This procedure is followed for all the four cards of the same
group, i.e., 3 letter card, 4 letter card, 5 letter card and so on. As and when all the four cards of
one group are, presented the experimenter has to find out the total of all the four cards of that
group and find out the percentage of the same. For example, if the participant correctly
reproduces all the four cards of the three letters lot, his total will be 3 X 4 = 12 and his
percentage will be 12/12 x100=100 and if he gets 2 total of 9, his percentage will be 9/
12X100=75,
All the cards will be presented in the same manner. When the participant fails to get 75% in two
consecutive series (i.e., if he fails in both 3 & 4, or 4 & 5, or 5 & 6 etc.) the experiment should be
stopped. If a participant fails to get 75% in both 4 letters and 5 letters, his span of attention for
nonsense syllables will be 3.
II Series: Meaningful words: The above procedure of presentation is followed in this series as
well. However, cards up to 15 letters will be exposed to the participant on successful
reproduction by the participant.
The following table may be followed while calculating the percentages.
No of 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Letters
No of 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Cards
Maximum 12 16 20 24 28 32 26 40 44 48 52 56 60

75% 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45

Precautions:
1. The participant should not be familiar with the cards used in the first series.
2. The cards have to be inserted in the box provided behind the aperture after the shutter goes up
and should be removed before lifting the shutter up. Otherwise, the participant will see the card
twice. The participant should not see the card for more than 1/10 of a second.
3. Calculations have to be made after all the cards of each lot are exposed.
4. After every 10 or 20 trials the participant may be asked to close his eyes and relax.

Analysis of results:
The span of attention is determined for non-sense syllables and words separately.

Table1: Showing the span of attention of the participant for nonsense syllables and meaningful
words
Name Nonsense Syllables Meaningful Words
HTN 8 15

Discussion:
The aim of this experiment was to find out whether span of attention will be more for meaningful
words than nonsense syllables. The above experiment was administered on an undergraduate
student who is 19 years old. From Table 1, it is seen that the participant has scored 8 in nonsense
syllables and 15 in meaningful words. Therefore, the hypothesis is proven as span of attention
for meaningful words is more than nonsense syllables, this is because of familiarity and interest.

Conclusion:
The participant accepts the hypothesis which states, "The visual span of attention for meaningful
words is greater than it is for nonsense syllables."