Every day we are surrounded by thousands of stimuli which exert an influence on us, however, living beings have the ability to inhibit those stimuli which are irrelevant to us since, if we did not have this ability, we would find ourselves in a situation of overload. of information since we would always be hyperactive.
But do we know what processes allow us to carry out this information screening? If not, at Psychology-Online we want you to know them in an adequate and simple way. Therefore, in this article we will see the definition of selective attention, with examples and exercises.
What is selective attention: definition
The selective attention It is the allocation of attentional resources in those moments in which there are conflicts between different signals. In these complex situations, it is necessary to be able to inhibit a series of stimuli while others are processed. Its function can be defined as selection of a part of the information for the improvement of its processing.
Selective attention can work in three different areas:
- Spatial selective attentionwhich facilitates the processing of those stimuli which are found in a certain space.
- Selective attention on the objectwhere the attentional reference frame is an object to, in this way, adequately process all its characteristics.
- Temporary selective attention. It is considered a human ability that allows us to use information about time intervals to optimize the detection of important information.
Examples of selective attention
Many of the times when we use selective attention we do so unconsciously since without realizing it We pay more attention to some stimuli than others. For example, in these cases we use selective attention:
- When we are waiting for a message and we know that a bell will ring to notify us of the arrival of the message, our attention inhibits any other sound focusing only on the one on the phone.
- When we drive we also use it since we only process that information that allows us to drive properly, avoiding and inhibiting all those stimuli that can act as distractors.
- We also use selective attention when we are taking a test, so we focus all our attention in answering it, preventing other stimuli from interrupting said task.
How selective attention works
When it comes to identifying important stimuli, people can do so in two different ways, through overt orientation and covert orientation. Regarding the first, eye movements are necessary to fix our gaze on the desired stimulus, however, in the covert it is not necessary to change the position of the head or eyes. For this reason, there are a series of advantages of covert over open:
- Does not require eye movements
- Since there is no movement, it is faster
- Facilitates the processing of stimuli by activating the neural pathways that will process it later
When explaining how selective attention works, we could use a metaphor known as light bulb. To do this, we must imagine attention as the light source emitted by a flashlight, where the area that is illuminated is the one that would be processed more quickly and easily, while the dark area would be inhibited.
The functioning of selective attention is not a unitary process, but rather involves a set of different mechanisms that work in a coordinated manner.
Features of care
To adequately understand selective attention, it is worth mentioning some of the main characteristics of attention:
- Intentionality: helps activate, focus and maintain attention on relevant stimuli.
- Subject expectations: they influence the attention that the subject places while waiting for what they are anticipating.
- Activation of cognitive processes of information processing.
- Orientation: ability to direct cognitive resources to stimuli voluntarily.
- Targeting: ability to focus on certain stimuli.
- Concentration: amount of resources used for a specific activity.
- Flexibility: ability to change attentional focuses.
- Stability: possibility of maintaining attention for a certain time on a specific stimulus or task.
Selective attention exercises
To evaluate selective attention from the point of view of psychology, we find different instruments:
- The Incomplete Figures: The subject must look at a drawing and name what important part is missing.
- WAIS Symbol Search: You should see two groups of symbols, a key group (2 symbols) and a search group (5 symbols). You must then decide whether any of the two symbols in the key group are the same as any of those in the search group.
Since selective attention requires a process of selection, control and intention, the following tests are suggested:
- Go/no go: You must respond to all the arrows that are presented to you except for those that have certain characteristics indicated by the evaluator.
- Stroop: a sheet is presented where they have to read the words (name of colors) omitting the color in which the word is painted. It can be done the other way around, that is, saying the color in which the word is painted.
- WSCT: The subject is presented with a series of stimulus cards and must match the problem card with one of them. However, the subject does not know what the matching criterion is and furthermore, the criterion will change randomly, so the subject must be able to readjust his or her response.
With these attention tests you can identify the .
Difference between focused, sustained, alternating, divided and selective attention
The focused attention It is the ability to regulate the intensity of attention directed towards a task, that is, what is known as the ability to concentrate.
The sustained attention refers to attentional variations over time. This type of attention is considered the ability to maintain an effective level of response in a demanding task over a certain time interval.
The alternating care It is the ability to shift the attention focus from one task to another by interspersing the execution of part of one and the other.
The divided attention It is the capacity of attention to attend to two or more tasks at the same time. It refers to the distribution of attentional resources to be able to effectively process different sources of information which are present at the same moment. It is considered that, in these situations, attending involves distributing resources based on the demands of concurrent tasks.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Avila, C. Cognitive Functions. Jaume I University. 2019
- Roser Poy. Perception and Attention. Jaume I University. 2015