Attention Flashcards
Attention definition
Refers to actively focusing on particular information while simultaneously ignoring other information.
Internal stimuli
Is information or sensations that originate from within the body. These can include the feeling of hungry or tired having a fever being too hot or too cold.
External stimuli
Is information or sensations that originate from outside the body. These can include conversations you are having with other tasks that you are completing or something you are reading.
What are the three types of attention
Sustained divided and selective
Sustained attention
Refers to focusing on one stimulus or task across a prolonged continuous period of time. It makes it possible to concentrate in order to complete a set of tasks or to attend to something for a specific period of time.
Sustained attention examples
Watching an episode on TV
Shopping for a perfect pair of shoes online
Focusing on one concept in class
Holding a conversation with someone for a few minutes
Characteristics of sustained attention
Used when an individual needs to have a greater resilience to detect rare and unpredictable stimuli when there is uncertainty about the location in which the stimulator will be presented.
Eg. Driving test
Selected attention definition
Selected attention involves exclusively focusing attention on a specific stimulus or task while ignoring all other stimuli or tasks.
Examples of selective attention
Being at a crowded party, you often turn your attention into the conversation you are having with someone despite the appeal to hear many other conversations. At the same time. This is called “the cocktail party effect.”
Divided attention definition
Divided attention involves distributing ones attention to allow for the processing of true or more stimulate at the same time.
-divided attention can genuinely be used when an automatic cognitive process is being performed which requires little conscious awareness or mental effort.
