Attention 

Attention is the process of concentrating on specific information in the environment. It allows us to screen out irrelevant information and focus on what is important. There are two forms of attention: passive attention and active attention. Passive attention is the ability to focus on something involuntarily (i.e., a sudden loud noise). It is an automatic process of the mind that is caused by external factors in the environment. Active attention, on other hand, is the ability to focus on something voluntarily (i.e., watching over the kids). This requires effort and conscious attention.  

There are five types of attention: focused, sustained, selective, alternating, and divided. Each of these are described below.  

Types of Attention	Definition	Example
Focused	Ability to focus on something for any period of time and allows us to quickly detect relevant stimuli	Paying attention to signs on the road while driving  Picking up something that fell off your desk
Sustained	Ability to focus on something over a long period of time	Paying attention in class  Keeping your eye on the road while driving
Selective	Directing our awareness on a task while all other information in the environment is ignored	Attending a conversion at a party  Studying in a busy environment
Alternating	Moving between two or more tasks that require different mental capabilities  Requires mental flexibility	Reading a recipe then performing the physical task of the recipe
Divided	When a person must divide their focus on two or more things	Listening to a podcast while running  Talking on the phone while driving

 

 

Individuals with impairment or deficits in attention can experience the following symptoms: 

• Difficulty focusing  
• Difficulty multitasking  

• Difficulty following through or completing tasks  
• Forgetfulness 
• Absent-mindedness 
• Short attention span  

However, there are general strategies that individuals with impaired attention can utilize. These include: 

Deficit	Strategies
Impaired focused attention	Engage in mindfulness or meditation
Impaired sustained attention	Take short movement breaks  Remove distractions  Practice attentive listening, i.e., listening a friend talk  Perform concentration exercises, i.e., sitting still on a chair for 15 minutes
Impaired selective attention	Avoid distracted environments  Wearing earplugs during task
Impaired alternating attention	Assess the mental capability or effort required of task   For example, one task being mental (listening to radio) while the other task requires more physical skills (cleaning room)
Impaired divided attention	Same strategies as above  Focus on only two tasks at a time  Limiting additional distractions such as noisy environment or visual distractions  If possible, give yourself a time limit to fully focus on a task before switching tasks

 

References: 

www.cognifit.com 

https://www.cdl.org/what-is-attention/ 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/adult-adhd/symptoms-causes/syc-20350878 

Hahn, B., Wolkenberg, F. A., Ross, T. J., Myers, C. S., Heishman, S. J., Stein, D. J., Kurup, P. K., & Stein,  

146. A. (2008). Divided versus selective attention: evidence for common processing mechanisms.Brain research,1215, 137–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2008.03.058 

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