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Attention

Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on specific information while ignoring other stimuli, and it is an active part of consciousness. Different types of attention include sustained, selective, and alternating attention, with attention span varying by age and mental state. Distractions can arise from both external factors, like noise, and internal factors, such as emotional disturbances, impacting the ability to maintain focus.

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8 views13 pages

Attention

Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on specific information while ignoring other stimuli, and it is an active part of consciousness. Different types of attention include sustained, selective, and alternating attention, with attention span varying by age and mental state. Distractions can arise from both external factors, like noise, and internal factors, such as emotional disturbances, impacting the ability to maintain focus.

Uploaded by

adnan shoukat
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Attention

Attention
• Attention is the behavioural
and cognitive process of
selectively concentrating on a
discrete aspect of information,
whether deemed subjective or
objective, while ignoring other
perceivable information.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=_bnnmWYI0lM

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Attention

• Attention is an active part of consciousness.


• The activity of concentrating mind on a
particular matter is called attention.
• Attention is not possible in the absence of
consciousness, but attention and
consciousness are not one.
• The field of consciousness is vast, and
attention is one of its parts.
• For example, I am reading at this time. Book,
note, table, chair, etc., all this can be under
my consciousness, but my attention is on the
words being read on the paper.

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Different definitions of Attention

Attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one object rather


than others – Dumvile.

Attention is the process of getting an object of thought clearly in the mind


–Ross.

Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one


aspect of the environment while ignoring other things – John R. Anderson.

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• Multi-Tasking: Multitasking can be defined as
the attempt to perform two or more task
simultaneously. However research shows that
when multitasking, people make more mistakes
or perform their task more slowly.

Types of • Sustained Attention: Sustained attention is the


attention ability to focus on an activity or stimulus over a
long period of time. Sustained attention is what
makes it possible to concentrate on an activity
for as long as it takes to finish, even if there are
other distracting stimuli present. For example,
listening to the teacher as she delivers the
lecture.

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• Selective attention: the process of reacting to
certain stimuli selectively when several occur
simultaneously. For example, listening to your friend
Types of in a noisy room.
• Alternating attention occurs when attention
attention switches back and forth between different stimuli.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh_9XFzbWV8

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Attention Span
The ability of a person to concentrate on something. The length of time which a reader
can concentrate on what he is reading without thinking of anything else is called Span of
attention.

It varies with age, physical, mental and emotional condition and nature of material read.
Attention brings an object into consciousness. How many objects can be brought into
consciousness at a time, the number of them is called span of attention.

On an average span of attention of a child is limited to 4 to 5 whereas for adults it is


within 6 to 7 letters or digits.

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Inattention/Fluctuation
of attention
• It is defined as “the inability to direct and
sustain attention.”
• As a matter of fact, there are two fields of
consciousness – the field of attention and
inattention.
• The field of attention is in the center of
consciousness and that of inattention to
the edge consciousness. The things on the
edge of consciousness influence the mind
to some extent, but our attention is not
diverted to them.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Hxt
KgKrL8

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Distraction

• Distraction may be defined as any stimulus


whose presence interferes with the process of
attention or draws away attention from the
object to which we wish to attend.
• A distraction may be defined as any factor which
normally tends to break up attention

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Sources of Distraction
The sources of distraction can be roughly divided into two - external and internal
sources.

External Factors
Internal Factors
It is also called environmental factors. These are more common
Emotional disturbances, ill-health, anger,
and prominent. Noise, seats, music, inadequate improper
fear, insecurity, boredom, lack motivation,
ventilation, lighting, uncomfortable defective method of teaching,
feeling of fatigue, lack of interest,
improper use of teaching aids, defective voice of the teacher are
unrelated subject matter are the
the common external distractors in the classrooms.
examples for internal distractors.
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Theories of Attention

The main theories contributing to our knowledge of attention in


psychology are
1. Auditory selective attention
2. Visual inattention
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Auditory selective attention
• Also known as “The cocktail party effect”
• Coined by a British cognitive scientist Colin Cherry in 1953.
• The cocktail party effect is the phenomenon of the brain's ability to focus one's auditory attention
on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli.
• This occurs with the help of selective attention.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpQpnS6ubTU

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Visual Inattention

• Visual Inattention involves failing to perceive something because your attention is focused on
something else, such as a task, object, or person. For example, Visual Inattention can often
contribute to traffic accidents when a driver's attention is elsewhere, causing them to miss
important information.
• When you focus hard on one thing, you miss other important details that are right in front of you.
• For example, the gorilla experiment.

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