Attention - sustained

Question 1

What activities require sustained attention?

Answer 1

Daily activities:
- Searching for something in your bag
- Watching a video from start to finish
- Completing a simple maths question
- Holding a conversation for a few minutes

Question 1

Sustained attention refers to…

Answer 1

Refers to focusing on one stimulus or task across a prolonged, continuous period of time.

Question 2

What are the 3 main stages of sustained attention?

Answer 2

1. Individual focuses attention of stimulus they wish to sustain attention towards
2. Maintain attention on that stimulus (Results from internal motivation to sustained attention and ability to hold focus)
3. Release sustained attention (no longer need to focus on stimuli)

Question 3

When is sustained attention typically more difficult?

Answer 3

Easy or boring situations -> the more challenging the task is the easier to sustain focus

Question 4

What happened if attention is sustained for too long?

Answer 4

Fatigue, become too tired to focus - attention is a limited resource

Question 5

What are distractions?

Answer 5

Internal or external stimuli that draw attention away from the current task