A type of attention in which there is no conscious choice of direction and regulation. It is established and maintained independently of a person's conscious intention. It is based on unconscious human attitudes. The occurrence of involuntary attention can be caused by the peculiarity of the influencing stimulus, and also be determined by the correspondence of these stimuli to past experience or the mental state of a person.
O Unexpectedness of the stimulus. o Relative strength of the stimulus. o Novelty of the stimulus. o Moving objects. (T. Ribot identified precisely this factor, believing that as a result of purposeful activation of movements, concentration and increased attention on the object occurs.) T. Ribot o Contrast of objects or phenomena. o The internal state of a person.
The physiological mechanism of voluntary attention is the focus of optimal excitation in the cerebral cortex, supported by signals coming from the second signaling system. A psychological feature of voluntary attention is that it is accompanied by the experience of greater or lesser volitional effort, tension, and prolonged maintenance of voluntary attention causes fatigue, often even greater than physical tension. The second signal system of volitional effort
A type of attention in which there is a conscious choice of the object of attention, but there is no tension characteristic of voluntary attention. Associated with the formation of a new attitude, associated more with current activity than with a person’s previous experience.
O external attention (sensory-perceptual) is drawn to objects in the external world. A necessary condition for cognition and transformation of the external world is that internal attention (intellectual) is drawn to the objects of a person’s subjective world. A necessary condition for self-knowledge and self-education is motor attention.
O Concentration and retention of attention on any object. Such retention means isolating the “object” as some certainty, a figure, from the general background. o Volume is the number of objects that are covered by attention, simultaneously, at the same time. The amount of attention usually ranges from 4 to 6 objects in adults, and from 2 to 5 objects in schoolchildren (depending on age). A person with a larger attention span can notice more objects, phenomena, and events. o Stability The most essential condition for the stability of attention is the ability to reveal new aspects and connections in the subject to which it is directed. o Switchability – a conscious and meaningful, intentional and purposeful change in the direction of consciousness from one object to another, caused by setting a new goal. o Distribution – the ability to maintain several heterogeneous objects or subjects in the spotlight.
Attention is the selective focus of a person’s consciousness on certain objects and phenomena, i.e. formally, attention can be defined as a process that ensures selective perception, processing, memorization and use of sensory information by a person: sensations, images, thoughts, experiences, etc.
Functions of attention Selectivity of cognitive processes. Social function
The first weeks are months of life. The appearance of an orienting reflex as an objective, innate sign, the presence of involuntary and direct attention of the child.
The end of the first year of life - the beginning of the second year. The emergence of indicative research activity as a means of future development of voluntary attention. At this time, the child not only reacts to new impressions, but actively seeks them out. Detection of the beginnings of voluntary attention under the influence of adult speech instructions.
Second - third year of life. Good development of the above forms of attention, the beginning of active use by the child himself of the means offered to him in order to manage the attention of adults.
Four and a half - six years. The child’s ability to direct his attention to something under the influence of complex speech instructions from an adult or symbolic means. At this time, children develop egocentric speech. Inner speech becomes an internal means of controlling the child’s attention.
School age. Further development and improvement of voluntary and indirect attention based on internal speech and more advanced external means.
Attention disorders. Hypoprosexia Various options for weakening attention. Hyperprosexia Paraprosexia Attention is increased, often due to its one-sided focus. A perversion of attention, which is more often understood as its concentration on objects of a pathological nature (delusions, hallucinations).
1. What is attention Attention is the direction and concentration of consciousness on any object or activity while being distracted from everything else.
2. Types of attention Depending on the presence of a conscious choice of direction and regulation, voluntary, involuntary and post-voluntary attention are distinguished.
2. Voluntary attention - occurs if in an activity a person sets himself a certain task and develops a program of action (attention with the participation of the will). Instructions from the outside, one’s own instructions, intention (in the form of internal speech) create the possibility of voluntary attention, which plays a huge role in a person’s life. After all, not everything that a person needs to do is of direct interest to him. v Conditions for maintaining voluntary attention Awareness of duty and responsibility in performing a given activity Awareness of the importance and social significance of the goal of the activity is of great importance. v Favorable conditions for activity, i.e. the exclusion of negatively acting extraneous stimuli (television programs, an interesting story read on the radio, loud music, noise). v v v Habitual working conditions The emergence of difficulties The emergence of indirect interests The activity itself that an individual performs may not arouse direct interest, but he has a stable interest in the result of the activity. v A clear understanding of the specific task of the activity being performed.
3. Post-voluntary attention arises on the basis of voluntary attention, after it. If in an activity the content and process of the activity itself, and not just the result, becomes interesting and significant for the individual, post-voluntary attention arises. The activity captivates a person so much that volitional efforts are no longer required to maintain attention.
3. Properties of attention 1. Stability of attention 2. Focus (concentration of attention) 3. Switchability 4. Distribution of attention 5. Volume of attention First of all, attention is characterized by how strong, intense it is, how concentrated it is on an object, how much a person manages to distract himself from outsiders irritants. The corresponding property is called concentration of attention. But this is not the only important thing. It is also important how long a person can maintain attention, i.e. stability of attention. It is important to evaluate attention in terms of its breadth - how widely it covers objects and phenomena. Accordingly, two properties of attention are distinguished: its volume and distribution. Finally, it is important to know how flexible attention is, how quickly it can switch from one object to another.
1. Sustainability of attention - the ability for a long 2. Focus of attention is manifested in differences that 3. Switchability - transfer of attention from one object. time to maintain a state of attention on any object, subject or activity (temporal characteristic). Stability of attention is maintained in active and varied practical activities with the subject, in active mental activity. Sustained attention is maintained in activities that produce positive results, especially after overcoming difficulties, which causes positive emotions. exist in the degree of concentration of attention on certain objects and when distracted from everything else. Concentration of attention is usually associated with deep, effective interest in an activity, some event or fact. If a person is completely absorbed in his work, is not distracted for a minute, does not notice how time passes, does not respond to phone calls, you can call him, call him to dinner - he does not answer, and sometimes does not even hear. In this case, they speak of the great power of his concentrated attention. to another or from one activity to another in connection with setting a new task. The individual characteristics of a person are clearly manifested in the switching of attention - some people can quickly move from one activity to another, while others can move slowly and with difficulty. Switching attention is always accompanied by some nervous tension, which is expressed in volitional effort
4. Distribution of attention - the ability to focus attention over a significant space and simultaneously perform several types of activities (listening and writing, writing and speaking). Under what conditions can two jobs be successfully completed at the same time? Only if both activities, or at least one of them, are so mastered, habitual, easy that they do not require concentrated attention, are performed by a person very freely, and are only slightly controlled and regulated by him. In the center of a person’s attention there is only one main activity, while the other occupies a relatively small part of attention; it is not in the center of attention, but on its periphery. 5. Attention span - the amount of information that can simultaneously be in the sphere increased attention. The implication here is important because our attention can usually move very quickly from one object to another, which creates the illusion of a large amount of attention. It is important to be able to combine objects into one whole, to perceive them as whole complexes.
4. Functions of attention Attention in human life and activity performs many different functions. It activates the necessary ones and inhibits the unnecessary ones in at the moment psychological and physiological processes, promotes the organized and targeted selection of information entering the body in accordance with its current needs, ensures selective and long-term concentration of mental activity on the same object or type of activity.
Attention is associated with the direction and selectivity of cognitive processes. Their adjustment directly depends on what at a given moment in time seems most important for the body, for the realization of the interests of the individual. Attention determines the accuracy and detail of perception, the strength and selectivity of memory, the direction and productivity of mental activity - in a word, the quality and results of the functioning of all cognitive activity. For perceptual processes, attention is a kind of amplifier that allows one to distinguish the details of images. For human memory, attention acts as a factor capable of retaining the necessary information in the short-term and RAM, as a prerequisite for transferring memorized material into long-term memory storage. For thinking, attention acts as a mandatory factor in correctly understanding and solving a problem. In the system of interhuman relations, attention contributes to better mutual understanding, adaptation of people to each other, prevention and timely resolution interpersonal conflicts. An attentive person is described as a pleasant interlocutor, a tactful and delicate communication partner. An attentive person learns better and more successfully and achieves more in life than someone who is not attentive enough.
