Attention involves the ability to detect and respond to stimuli, and it consists of various types determined by both objective factors (size, intensity, movement) and subjective factors (interest, need, emotion). The document also discusses various kinds of attention, including voluntary and involuntary attention, as well as the concept of span, duration, and shifting of attention. Distractions, both external and internal, can significantly impact the ability to maintain focus.

1. ATTENTION

2.  Attention: ability to detect and respond to
stimuli
 Attention is not a unitary construct
 just like memory there are many different
types of attention
 At the psychological level: attention implies
a preferential allocation of processing
resources and response channels to events
that have become behaviorally relevant
What is Attention?

3. Determinants of
Attention
Objective
Factors
Subjective
Factors
FACTORS of attention

4. OBJECTIVE FACTORS
•SIZE
•INTENSITY
•CHANGE
•CONTRAST
•NOVELTY
•MOVEMENT
•REPITATION
•SYSTEMATIC FORM
SUBJECTIVE FACTORS
•Interest
•Need
•Mental Set
•Mood
•Physiological
Condition
Determinants of attention

5.  Objects or text that
are larger gain more
attention than normal
or small objects.
 Example: Traffic
signs are large and
are usually in all
capital letters.
SIZE

6.  Intense objects or
text garner
attention.
 Example: Bright
colors attract
more attention
than plain black
text.
INTENSITY

8. Sudden change in a STIMULUS
attracts our attention
Example: any changes in our
home (Chair or tables) bring
more attention
change

10. Stimulus present
itself as a contrast
in the middle of
the other stimuli
 Example
 A black dot in a white clean shirt
 Matching dress
 Black board – white chalk
 In class – tr. Should use various
stimulus
contrast

12. "Stimuli that are novel
or unusual is some
way tend to draw
people's
attention."
 Example: A person will pay
attention to a two-headed goat
before a one-headed goat,
because a two-headed is not
something that a person see
every day.
NOVELTY

16. Adults and children are more likely
to pay attention to an object with
there is motion (Movement)
involved.
 Example: Children are more
drawn to toys that move such as
toy cars.
MOTION

18.  When a stimulus is presented repeatedly our
attention is diverted
 For example, repeated horn of a fire brigade
or ambulance.
REPITATION

19.  Objects with systematic form
are easily attended to and
retained long in our memory
SYSTEMATIC

20.  An object or sound which can be experienced clearly
draws our attention than the stimuli which are not
clear.
 For example, during night times stars and planets
which are seen clearly draw our attention.
Clarity

21. SUBJECTIVE FACTORS
•Interest
•Need
•Mental Set
•Mood
•Physiological Condition

22. Objects of our interest draw our attention
immediately.
For example, while moving on a road a
sportsman is attracted towards the shop
where sports materials are placed.
A person who is interested in a particular
singer will immediately divert his attention
the moment he listens his voice.
INTEREST

25.  Motives are powerful forces which make us to
divert our attention.
 For example, a hotel will draw the attention
of a hungry person because he has a drive for
food.
NEED OR VALUE

26. Words with strong emotional connections
seem to gain more attention than others.
Example: In nursing school, our teacher
would say, "this could kill your patient",
when she would say that all students
would perk up and pay attention due to
the nature of her statement.
EMOTION

27.  A person is more likely to
pay attention to a person or
concept that hold personal
significance to them.
 Example: If a person has
had a family member or
friend diagnosed with
ALERGY , they are more
likely to pay attention to a
lecture about ALERGY,
because they know how it
could affect their lives.
PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE
(mental setup)

28.  "People are more likely to
pay attention to things
they see others looking at
or reacting to."
 Example: If you see a
crowd of people staring
at something you will try
to find out what the
group is reacting to, its
human curiosity.
SOCIAL CUES

29.  One’s body also determines the level of attention.
 For Example: Head Ache – unable to attend class
PHYSIOLOGICAL Conditions

30.  TYPES OR VARIETIES OF ATTENTION
 Voluntary (volitional)
 Involuntary (non-volitional)
KINDS OF ATTENTION

31.  It demands the conscious effort on our part.
 For example, solving an assigned problem in
Mathematics, answering a question in examination needs
voluntary attention.
 It is further sub divided into two categories:
1. Implicit volitional attention
 2. Explicit volitional attention
VOLUNTARY ATTENTION

32. A single act of will is responsible for
arousing attention.
For example; a teacher assigns practice
work to a child & warns of punishment if
not completed. This can make him
exercise his will power, attend to assigned
task & finish it properly.
1. Implicit volitional attention:

33.  Attention is obtained by repeated acts of will.
 One has to struggle hard for keeping oneself
attentive; it requires a strong will power, keen
attention & strong motives for accomplishment
of the task.
 For example, the attention paid during
examination days for securing good grades
2. Explicit volitional attention:

34.  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
INVOLUNTARY ATTENTION

35. Aroused by the instincts is called
enforced non-volitional attention.
For example, giving attention out
of curiosity.
ENFORCED NVA

36. 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.
SPONTANEOUS NVA

37.  Span of attention:
The maximum amount of material that can
be attended in one period of attention is called
span to attention.
This can be visual attention or auditory attention.
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.
DURATION AND DEGREE OF
ATTENTION

38.  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.
Span of auditory attention:

39.  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
Sustained Attention
(Act of Fixation of mind):

40.  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.
Shifting Attention:

41.  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
Division of Attention:

46. Distraction means any stimulus
whose presence interferes with the
process of attention or draws away
attention from the object which we
wish to attend. -(HR Bhatia-1968)
Distraction

47.  External Factors/Environmental factors: Noise, music,
improper lighting, uncomfortable seats, unfavorable
temperature, inadequate ventilation etc.
 Internal factors: Emotional disturbances, ill health,
boredom, lack of motivation, fatigue etc.
SOURCE OF DISTRACTION