Attention: meaning, types, span of attention, and factors affecting attention

Attention is the term given to the perpetual process that selects certain inputs for inclusion in our conscious experience, or awareness, at any given time. In simple terms, it refers to being keenly aware of some factors of our environment.

“Attention is the preparatory adjustment for response. -Morgan

Attention is a mental process that brings a stimulus to the focus of the conscience of an individual. It is a selective process that involves bodily adjustments, and a state of readiness, and has limited span or range.

During sensation, a large number of stimuli impinge upon our sense organs simultaneously, but we do not notice all of them at the same time. Only a selected few of them are noticed. For example, when you enter your classroom you encounter several things in it, such as doors, walls, windows, paintings on walls, tables, chairs, students, school bags, water bottles, and so on, but you selectively focus only on one or two of them at one time. The process through which certain stimuli are selected from a group of others is generally referred to as attention.

Besides selection, attention also refers to several other properties like alertness, concentration, and search. Alertness refers to an individual’s readiness to deal with stimuli that appear before her/him. Concentration refers to focusing awareness on certain specific objects while excluding others for the moment. In search, an observer looks for some specified subset of objects among a set of objects. Attention in this sense refers to “effort allocation”.

Attention has a focus as well as a fringe. When the field of awareness is centered on a particular object or event, it is called focus or the focal point of attention. On the contrary, when the objects or events are away from the center of awareness and one is only vaguely aware of them, they are said to be at the fringe of attention.

Sometimes we can also attend to two different things at the same time. When this happens, it is called divided attention. However, this becomes possible only with highly practiced activities, because they become almost automatic and require less attention to perform than new or slightly practiced activities. Automatic processing has three main characteristics; (i) It occurs without intention, (ii) It takes place unconsciously, and (iii) It involves very little (or no) thought processes (e.g., we can read words or tie our shoelaces without giving any thought to these activities).

Types of attention

Selective Attention: Selective attention is concerned mainly with the selection of a limited number of stimuli or objects from a large number of stimuli. We have already indicated that our perceptual system has a limited capacity to receive and process information. This means that it can deal only with a few stimuli at a given moment in time.

Sustained attention: It refers to our ability to maintain attention to an object or event for longer durations. It is also known as “vigilance”. Sometimes people have to concentrate on a particular task for many hours. Air traffic controllers and radar readers provide us with good examples of this phenomenon. They have to constantly watch and monitor signals on screens. The occurrence of signals in such situations is usually unpredictable, and errors in detecting signals may be fatal. Hence, a great deal of vigilance is required in those situations.

Span of attention: Our attention has a limited capacity to receive stimuli. The number of objects one can attend to at a brief exposure (i.e. a fraction of a second) is called the “span of attention” or “perceptual span”. More specifically, the span of attention refers to the amount of information an observer can grasp from a complex array of stimuli at a single momentary exposure. This can be determined by the use of an instrument, called “tachistoscope”. Based on several experiments, Miller has reported that our span of attention varies within the limit of seven plus or minus two. This is popularly known as the “magic number”. It means that at a time, people can attend to a set of five to seven numbers, which can be extended to nine or more under exceptional conditions. Sir William Hamilton(1959) and Jevons(1871) as well as many other psychologists had similar findings in their experiments and supported his theory. Tachistoscope is a popular device used to measure the attention span of a person.

Factors affecting attention: internal and external factors

External factors: They are related to the features of the stimuli.

• Size, intensity, and motion- Large, bright, and moving stimuli catch our attention easily.

• Sensory modality- Performance is found to be superior when the stimuli (called signals) are auditory than when they are visual.

• Clarity of stimuli- Intense and long-lasting stimuli facilitate sustained attention and result in better performance.

• Temporal uncertainty- When stimuli appear at regular intervals of time they are attended better than when they appear at irregular intervals.

• Spatial uncertainty- Stimuli that appear at a fixed place are readily attended, whereas those that appear at random locations are difficult to attend.

• Grouping- For our brain, grouped stimuli are easier to pay attention to in contrast with ungrouped stimuli.

According to research by Hunter and Sigler (1940) when both light intensity and exposure duration are increased, attention span also increases rapidly.

Internal factors: They lie within the individual. These may be divided into two main categories, viz. motivational factors and cognitive factors.

• Motivational factors relate to our biological or social needs. When we are hungry, we notice even a faint smell of food. A student taking an examination is likely to focus on a teacher’s instructions more than other students.

• Cognitive factors include factors like interest, emotions, attitude, and preparatory set. Objects or events, that appear interesting, are readily attended by individuals. Similarly, we pay quick attention to certain objects or events to which we are favorably disposed of.