Psychology for Nurses. Unit - III, B. Sc (N) 1st yr

1. UNIT – III
COGNITIVE
PROCESS
PRESENTED BY
D ARUL ANNUNCIA, M.SC(N)
DEPT OF MHN.

2. COGNITION
◈ Cognition is a term referring to the
mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and
comprehension.
◈ These cognitive processes include thinking, knowing,
remembering, judging, and problem-solving.
◈ These are higher-level functions of the brain and
encompass language, imagination, perception, and
planning

3. Example for Cognitive Process:
◈ You look for the items you need
◈ make selections among different brands
◈ read the signs in the aisles
◈ work your way over to the cashier and
exchange money.

4. COGNITIVE PROCESS
◈ ATTENTION
◈ PERCEPTION
◈ LEARNING
◈ MEMORY
◈ THINKING
◈ INTELLIGENCE
◈ APTITUDE
◈ ALTERATION IN COGNITIVE
PROCESS

6. MEANING
◈ Attention is the focus of consciousness on a particular
object or ideas at a particular time, to the exclusion of
other objects or ideas
◈ Attention is the term used or given to the perceptual
processes that select certain inputs for inclusion in our
conscious experience, or awareness at any given time.
◈ It is the process involving the act of listening, and
concentrating on a topic, object or event for the
attainment of desired ends.

7. MEANING CONT’D
◈ It is essential for acquiring the knowledge.
◈ It is not awareness.
◈ “Act of directing one’s thought” towards a
particular act or object
◈ Concentration or focusing of consciousness
upon one object -Woodworth
◈ Eg. Military command – prepares a soldier for
an action

8. DEFINITION OF ATTENTION
◈ “Attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one
object other than upon another”—Dumville.
◈ “Attention is the process of getting an object or thought
clearly before the mind”—Ross.
◈ Process which compels the individual to select some
particular stimulus according to his interest and attitude
out of the multiplicity of stimuli present in the environment
-Sharma R. N. (1967)

9. DEFINITION CONTD…
◈ According to psychologist and philosopher William
James, attention "is the taking possession of the
mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what may
seem several simultaneously possible objects or
trains of thoughts…It implies withdrawal from some
things in order to deal effectively with others."

10. WHEN, WHERE, AND WHY WE PAY
ATTENTION
◈ SOCIAL PROBLEM. TOWARDS MOVEMENT.
EXPECTED REWARDS. ATTRACTIVE
THINGS. EMOTIONAL ATTRACTION
FAVORITE

11. HOW WE PAY ATTENTION!

12. HOW WE PAY ATTENTION!
If you pay attention to someone
◈ you watch them,
◈ listen to them, or take notice of them.
◈ If you pay no attention to someone, you
behave as if you are not aware of them or as if
they are not important.

13. CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTENTION
◈ It is a selective mental activity.
◈ It is constantly shifts from one object to another
or from one aspect of the situation to another.
◈ Attention is focusing of consciousness on a
particular object.
◈ Attention is a state of preparedness or
alertness: Process of attention involves motor
adjustments on the part of the person who is
attentive.

14. It is Selective mental activity
◈ It is a filtering process through which we
respond selectively to the incoming stimuli. We
may ignore something or accept something
else•

15. Shifting from one object to another
◈ Attracted by new things. It is not a fixed thing.
Shifting eyes from one part of the body others.

16. Makes clear in our consciousness the object which we
attend to
◈ Arouses the individual to attend the particular
objects

17. It creates motor adjustments such as muscles and
sense organs to improve the response.
◈ It creates motor adjustments such as muscles
and sense organs to improve the response.

18. IMPORTANCE OFATTENTION
◈ It helps in bringing mental alertness & preparedness.
◈ It helps the nurse to concentrate by focusing
consciousness on one object at a time rather than two.
◈ It helps the nurse for better organization of the
perceptual field for maximum clarity & understanding of
the patient condition.

19. TYPES OF ATTENTION

20. INVOLUNTARY ATTENTION (NON-
VOLITIONAL)
Attention aroused without will. This type of attention is
aroused without the play of will or without making a conscious effort on
our part. For example, we give involuntary attention to loud sounds, bright
lights & strong odors etc

21. INVOLUNTARY ATTENTION (cont)
◈ Enforced –(sustained by instincts): Involuntary non-
volitional attention aroused by the instincts is called
enforced non-volitional attention. For example, giving
attention out of curiosity, Attraction to opposite sex
◈ Spontaneous -(sustained by a sentiment): Non-volitional
attention aroused by the sentiments is called spontaneous
non-volitional attention. For example, we give somewhat
automatic or spontaneous attention towards some objects,
idea, person around which our sentiments are formed,
mothers attention to child’s cry.

22. VOLUNTARY ATTENTION (volitional
attention)
It demands the conscious effort on our part.
Voluntary with will .There is always a goal behind it.
For example, solving an assigned problem in
Mathematics, answering a question in examination
needs voluntary attention.

23. VOLUNTARY ATTENTION contd..
It is further sub divided into two categories:
◈ Implicit volitional attention
obtained by a single act of will
Eg. Attending to a mathematical problem when
teacher threatens of punishment.
◈ Explicit volitional attention
obtained by repeated acts of will. It requires
strong will power and strong motives.
Eg. Attention paid during examination.

30. DETERMINANANTS OF ATTENTION
Objective/ External
Factors or Conditions
 Stimulus
 Size
 Intensity
 Change, Contrast &
Novelty
 Movement
 Repetition
 Systemic form
 Isolation
 Location
Internal Factors or
Conditions
 Interest & attention
 Mental set up
 Past experience
 Emotion
 Habit
 Aim
 Meaning
 disposition

31. USES OF ATTENTION
◈ It provides strength & ability to continue the task of
cognitive functioning despite the obstacles put by the
distractions like noise & other weather conditions.
◈ It helps in better organization of the perceptual field for
maximum clarity & understanding of the object or
phenomenon.
◈ It helps in bringing mental alertness & preparedness.
◈ It helps in providing deeper concentration by focusing one’s
consciousness upon one object at a time rather than two.

33. ◈ How many birds are flying in given sceneries?
◈ How many windows does the house has?
◈ How many trees are in the sceneries?
◈ Does the house has a chimney?
◈ How many doors does the house has?

34. DURATION AND DEGREE OF
ATTENTION
◈ It refers to how long one can attend to an object without
a break.
◈ If we attend to a single, simple object for instance, a dot,
it will remain in the focus of our consciousness for only a
second at the most, then something in the margin will
crowd it out or memory of a past event will intrude.
◈ The duration of attention depends upon the nature of the
material, the interest of the observer, & other conditions.

35. DURATION AND DEGREE OF
ATTENTION
◈ ATTENTION SPAN
◈ SPAN OF ATTENTION
◈ SHIFTING OF ATTENTION
◈ FLUCTAUTAION OF ATTENTION
◈ DIVISION OF ATTENTION
◈ DISTRACTION

36. ATTENTION SPAN
◈ It is the amount of time a person can
concentrate on a task without becoming
distracted
◈ The average human attention span is 3 to 5
minutes in children and the maximum is 20
minutes in adults. The amount of time a person
can focus directly on an object is about 8
seconds.

37. SPAN OF ATTENTION
◈ The number of stimuli attended to in a single act of
attention
◈ This can be experimentally determined with the help of a
tachistoscope.
◈ This can be visual attention or auditory attention.

38. SPAN OF VISUAL ATTENTION:
◈ Experiments have been carried out to measure
the span of visual attention by making brief
exposures to a number of object. The time of
exposure is very short, ranging from 1/100 to
1/5 of a second

39. SPAN OF AUDITORY ATTENTION
◈ The number of auditory impressions perceived at a single
instance is slightly greater. An adult can perceive eight
sounds given rapidly in succession. But when sounds are
given in a rhythm, a much larger number of sounds can
be perceived.

40. SUSTAINED ATTENTION (ACT OF FIXATION OF MIND)
◈ To sustain attention, is to concentrate one’s activity
continuously upon some object or a happening or a
problem.
◈ The individual attention always remains on tract & the
activity proceeds systematically without any serious
distraction.
◈ All internal as well as external factors of getting
attention can be helpful in this track.

41. SHIFTING ATTENTION
◈ While paying attention towards an object or an event it
is not possible to hold attention continuously with the
same intensity for a longer duration.
◈ It is constantly shifting from one object to another, from
one aspect of the situation to another.
◈ We can perform only one voluntary act at a time & not
two or more acts at a time.
◈ We can quickly shift attention from one voluntary act to
another.

42. DIVISION OF ATTENTION
◈ Division of attention means to attend to two or more tasks
simultaneously.
◈ Psychologists say we cannot attend to two things at a
given time, & there is no possibility of division of attention.
◈ The reason for paying attention to more than one task at
a given time can be:
In performing two tasks simultaneously one of the two
activities requires no attention.
Attention rapidly shifts from one task to the other.

43. DISTRACTION
◈ It is the changes in the forms, modes and quality of
the attention paid to a stimulus. Kind of stimulus which
distracts our attention from the objects which we are
focusing •
◈ A distracter may be defined as any stimulus whose
presence interferes with the process of attention. •
Example: -Sound of music played on streets –
disturbs – attention of the students in a classroom

44. CAUSES OF DISTRACTION
◈ INTERNAL:
Headache,
Stomachache,
Emotional
Disturbance
Anxiety,
Mis- happening etc.
◈ EXTERNAL:
Noise
music
improper lighting,
uncomfortable seats,
unfavorable temperature,
inadequate ventilation,
improper behavior of
person dealing with us.

45. TYPES OR FORMS OF DISTRATION
◈ Continuous distraction
As the name
suggests, it is the
continuous distraction of
attention.
eg: the sound of radio
played continuously, the
noise in the market place.
◈ Experiments say
adjustment to continuous
distraction takes place
quickly.
◈ Discontinuous distraction
This type of
distraction is irregular,
being interspersed
with intervals.
eg: the hearing of
somebody’s voice
every now and then.
It interferes with work
because of the
impossibility of
adjustment

46. METHODS OF ELIMINATING DISTRACTION
◈ Much emphasis and importance must be given to
the task
◈ Create favorable situation
◈ Make lesson interesting
◈ Training in concentration
◈ Attention-distracting objects removed from the
neighborhood
◈ Encounter same type of distraction everyday –
used to them and start ignoring it

47. INATTENTION
◈ The absence of attention to a particular stimuli.
◈ Its outward signs –
a. The student is careless about the object which of
primary attention
b. Movement of students’ eyes are random and not fixed
c. Seems to be perplexed – does not understand and
receive clear impressions
d. Seems to be restless and writhing/squirming
movements of the body. Restlessness.

48. CAUSES OF INATTENTION
◈ Lack of interest or need Fatigue
◈ Presence of distraction Lack of Motivation

49. TYPES OF INATTENTION
◈ Absolute in attention - disappearance of
complete consciousness.
◈ Partial in-attention: careless attention/ low
intensified attention

50. ALTERATION IN ATTENTION
◈ Parkinson’s disease
◈ Post traumatic stress disorder
◈ Dementia
◈ Attention deficit hyperactive disorder
◈ Acquired brain injury.

51. NURSING IMPLICATIONS
◈ Receive necessary instructions from attending doctors, change of shift etc.
◈ Alertness for execution of professional duties. One nurse has to take care of
more than one patients.
◈ Overcome the obstacles of attention by removing internal and external
distractions.
◈ It helps in bringing mental alertness & preparedness.
◈ It helps the nurse to concentrate by focusing consciousness on one object at
a time rather than two.
◈ It helps the nurse for better organization of the perceptual field for maximum
clarity & understanding of the patient condition.
◈ The nurse can use psychology of attention for invoking not only voluntary but
also involuntary attention to her job.