Introduction To Psychology

(PSY-101)
Attention
• Attention is the cognitive process of selectively
concentrating one aspect of the environment
while ignoring other things.
• We are particularly attentive to stimuli that
appear exceptionally bright, large, loud, novel or
high in contrast.
Attention
• We also pay greater attention to stimuli that are
particularly meaningful or are relevant to our
motivations.
• E.g., If we are hungry ,we are more apt to be
sensitive to food and food related stimuli.
• It also includes listening carefully to what
someone is saying while ignoring other
conversation in a room.
Factors of Attention

• Why do we pay attention to something and not

to others? What directs our attention?
1. Objective Factors
2. Subjective Factors
External / Objective Factors
The external factors are concerned with the environment. These
are also called Objective Factors. Intensity
1.Size
2.intensity
3.Movement
4.Repetition
5.Duration
6.Abrupt change
7.Novelty
• Size: Size has effect on attention. It is natural an
unusual size attracts attention of the people.
Very big size or very small size too draws our
attention when compared with normal size. For
example, a dwarf man walking on the road too
draws our attention.
• Intensity: Loud sounds, strong smells and deep
colors are attractive in nature. If a sound is
intense then it would attract our attention. The
thunder is louder than a car sound. So, our
attention is drawn on thunder
• Movement: Moving things draws our
attention more than stationary one. A
moving car attracts faster than a
stationary car
• Repetition: If a thing or person or
event is repeated several times, then
our attention drawn to it. When an
advertisement is repeated in the walls
drawn our attention.
• Duration: attention is drawn to a thing
that lasts longer. A salesperson draws
attention by lengthening his voice.
• Novelty: Newness attracts quickly than
traditional one. A new teacher attracts the
children very much in the school.
Subjective Factors

The internal factors are concerned with the individual. So, these
are also called subjective factors

1.Interests
2.Desire
3.Motives
4.Aim/ goals
5.Habit
6.Past Experience
• Interest: we are interested in some things and
disinterested in other things. Interesting things draws
our attention soon. An engineer and a botanist going
down the same path will attend entirely different things
on the way. Engineer attention will be on the buildings
and botanist attention will be on the trees.
• Desire: A person’s desire becomes a cause of paying
attention to a thing. For example, a person has to desire
of buying a hammer. There are many things available in a
market, but when he goes to a shop where hammers are
available.
• Motives: Basic motives are important in drawing attention.
Human motives like hungry, thirst, safety, etc., play a vital
role in drawing attention. A thirst person attention always on
where water is available.
• Aim/Goal: Every man has some immediate aim and ultimate
goal in their life. The immediate aim of a student is to pass in
the examination while his ultimate goal may be to become a
doctor. The student, whose goal is not to pass the
examination, will not be concerned with textbooks or note,
etc, but who has the aim to pass in the examination, will at
once attend to them
• Habit: Habit is also a vital determinant of attention. The
kind of habit we found in our life, our attention is drawn
to such things. if a person has habit to play cricket, then
his attention is always drawn to it, and he will listen to
cricket commentaries with attention.
• Past Experience: It is also affect attention. If we know by
our past experience that a particular person is sincere to
us, we shall pay attention to whatever he advises us. If
our experience is contrary, we shall not attend even to
his most serous advice.
Span of Attention
• How many things can we hold in our attention at
the same time?
• Most psychologists agree that the ability to focus
attention on a task is important for the
achievement of one's goals.
• The attention span for this level is very brief,
with a maximum span, without any break at all,
that may be as short as 8 seconds
Poor attention span with distractibility
• Fails to finish the things started
• Shift from one uncomplicated activity to other
• Does not seem to listen
• Easily distracted by external stimuli
• Often loses things
Distraction of Attention
• Distraction means the dividing of attentions or
some interference in attention. The object which
causes the distraction is called the distractor
• Duration of attention is often short. Different
stimuli distract person’s attention. if a person
wants to attend a stimuli constantly , Even then
different factors can distract him. Person pays
more attention and concentration to his work
but remain unable to maintain it.
.
Distraction of Attention
• There are individual differences in distraction of
attention. Its not always necessary that two
different people get distracted by same stimuli.
Some people can study in noise ,while others
need complete silence. Two important factors
are as under:
• Objective Factors
• Subjective Factors
Objective Factors
• The factors that distract attention from environment are
called objective factors. It is also called environmental
factors. Routine work distract less attention while
different and novel work distracts more.
• Noise, music, improper lighting, uncomfortable seats,
defective method of teaching, improper use of teaching
aids, defective voice of the teacher are the common
external distractors in the classrooms.
Subjective Factors
• These factors are related to person’s internal
characteristics. Every person get distracted by
his tendencies or interests.
• Emotional disturbances, mental and physical
health, anger, fear, feeling of insecurity,
boredom, lack of motivation, feeling of fatigue,
lack of interest, desires, preferences,
freshness, unrelated subject matter are the
examples for internal distractor.
Control of Distraction
• Distraction of attention affects our performance. So these
factors can decrease distraction of attention.
1. By giving Reward
2. Social Acceptance
3. Through Self Control
4. Increase in Capability
5. Through clear objective
Fluctuation of Attention
• We can only attend a stimulus for few seconds. If we have to
attend a stimulus for long, then the attention fluctuates. This
is called fluctuation of attention.
• Fluctuation of attention is the length of time one can attend
continuously to a single object. Attention is not steady or
concentrated throughout. At one time the object come in our
focus, at another time, it goes out from focus.
• Attention is a mobile or dynamic activity, and it is difficult to
attend to one a particular object for any great length of time.
When attention moves from one object to another, it is called
the shifting of attention. But even when the attention persists
with one object, it grows more or less in degree. This is called
fluctuation of attention.
Fluctuation of Attention
• In shift of attention our attention passes from
one stimulus to another or from one part of a
complex stimulus to another part.
• Our receptors get fatigued by concentrating on
one stimuli and stop working. But when
attention decreases , the capacity of receptors
resumes.
• Usually we say, that I can study for 1 or 2 hour.
But when a person is studying ,even then his
attention is not static ,rather it’s diverting on
different words ,phrases and concepts.