Social Contect

University of Phoenix Material

Attention Worksheet

Using the text, Cognition: The Thinking Animal, the University Library, the Internet, and/or other resources, answer the following questions. Your response to each question should be at least 150 words in length.

.1 How do you define the concept of attention?

Life seems to become more and more complex, requiring more attention from everyone these days. Thinking back to times when there were no cars, no cell phones or any other things that could distract one as easily as today, attention was less divided and easier focused. However, things changed and everyone is trying to multitask more often. Today, while driving a car, one does more than just drive. Not only is attention required for driving itself, one may do several other things, such as talking on the phone, listening to music, or eating; just to mention few of the many possibilities that shift attention from one task to another. Being able to do multiple things simultaneously would mean that attention is flexible; however, this also means that attention is limited. Since there is so much information coming from the environment, one is unable to commit his or her entire attention to it. Most often, one will selectively give their attention to what seems to be most important or he or she will switch between tasks. Therefore, while paying attention is important, one must focus on the more significant information while ignoring the one of lesser importance. So not only are there various kinds of attentions dependent on the incoming information, it seems that attention is influenced by other factors such as one’s experience, interests, and goals (Martinez, 2010, p. 55). In shorter version, I define the concept of attention as part of my cognitive process to which others belong, such as perception and sensation, with attention being the one helping me to look over and concentrate on the incoming information.

.2 Can attention be consciously allocated to tasks? Why or why not?

Even though it was long believed that attention could not be consciously allocated to tasks, this opinion drastically changed. Since it is known one can have control over his or her attention and attention is influenced by the central executive system, it can be assumed that it can be consciously allocated to tasks.