Attention Flashcards
What is Attention?
Attention is the process of focusing on specific stimuli or aspects of the sensory environment whilst ignoring and therefore excluding others
What is Sustained Attention?
Sustained Attention involves maintenance of attention on a specific stimulus or task for a continuous period of time without being distracted.
What is Divided Attention?
Divided attention refers to the ability to distribute our attention so that two or more activities may be performed simultaneously. It may involve the use of just one sense, or two or more senses.
What affects Divided Attention?
Our ability to divide our attention depends on how much conscious effort is required for the various tasks in which we are engaged. In turn, this depends on the similarity of the tasks, their complexity and how experienced we are at doing them
What affects Sustained Attention?
The nature of the task and the personal characteristics of the individual. If the task if engaging to the person, then this will lead to more mental effort and better performance. Task complexity, reward, fatigue, expectations about the outcome, anxiety and emotional state are among other variables that can affect Sustained Attention
What is Selective Attention?
Selective Attention involves choosing and attending to a specific stimulus whilst at the same time excluding other stimuli. You select what you want to pay attention to and ignore less important or irrelevant stimuli
What affects Selective Attention?
We are more likely to attend to a stimulus if it is important or meaningful to us, if it changes in some way or if it is novel.
Personal Importance
Psychological State
Motives
Past experience
Name 3 Changes in Stimulus that attract attention
Movement: A stimulus which moves is more likely to capture our attention
Contrast: A stimulus which is noticeably different from its background or surroundings will attract attention more readily than one which is similar to the others
Intensity: A stimulus that is more intense than the others is more likely to capture our attention than the one that is less intense
Size: A much bigger or smaller stimulus draws attention more readily than one of an ‘average’ or ‘normal’ (salience)
Duration or repetition: A brief or momentary stimulus is less likely to capture our attention as easily as one that persists or is repeated.
What is Salience?
Salience refers to any personal characteristic that is distinctive, prominent, conspicuous, or noticeable in its context that attracts attention
