B.Sc Nursing Psychology: Attention.

1. Attention
Mr. Johny Kutty Joseph
Assistant Professor
SMVDCoN

2. Meaning of Attention
• It is essential for acquiring the knowledge.
• It is not awareness.
• “Act of directing one’s thought” towards a
particular act or object
• Concentration or focusing of consciousness
upon one object
• Eg. Military command – prepares a soldier for an
action
-Woodworth

3. Definitions of Attention
• Attention is the concentartion of consciousness
upon one object rather than upon another.
- Dumville, 1938
• Attention is the process of getting an object of
thought clearly before the mind
-Ross (1951)
• Process which compels the individual to select
some particular stimulus according to his
interest and attitude out of the multiplicity of
stimuli present in the environment
-Sharma R. N. (1967)

4. Characteristics
• It is Selective mental activity: It is a filtering
process through which we respond selectively to
the incoming stimuli. We may ignore something
or accept something else.
• Shifting from one object to another. :Attracted
by new things. It is not a fixed thing. Shifting
eyes from one part of the body others.
• Makes clear in our consciousness the object
which we attend to: Arouses the individual to
attend the particular objects
• Creates a attentive attitude of the individual.
• It creates motor adjustments such as muscles
and sense organs to improve the response.

5. Determinants/Factors of Attention
• External/Objective Factors.
• Internal/Subjective Factors.

6. External/Objective Factors.
• Intensity of Stimulus: loud sounds, bright lights, intense
odor (strong or weak stimuli).
• Change in intensity/quality of stimulus: a loud noise
outside the ward, sudden decrease in breath rate.
• Movement: moving objects attract more attention. Eg.
LED boards.
• Size: large object/small object against large background
attract attention.
• Contrast: Eg. Spot on clean dress, color combinations.
• Novelty: Eg. Unique equipment, design or fasion.
• Repetition: Repeated exposure Eg. Summary of class.
• Definite shape: attending the figure more than
background.

7. Internal/Subjective Factors.
• Interest: purpose and taste of person.it changes according
to age, sex. Eg. Dress, automobile, preferences.
• Habits & Attitude: personal habits, occupation, profession.
A sports person observes sports page on news paper/TV.
• Motives & Organic States: drives and physical/psychological
status. Hungry child cry at the bottle avoiding favorite toys.
• Emotions: A sleepy mother is not disturbed by a sound at
home but faint cry of the child wakes her up.
• Past Experiences: Checking the expiry date of product
before purchasing based on pat experiences.
• Value and Purpose of the stimulus. Eg. Prevent forgetfulness
by keeping costly products.

8. Types of Attention
Attention
Non-
volitional
Enforced Spontaneous
Volitional
Implicit Explicit

9. – Non-volitional: attention aroused without will.
• Enforced –(sustained by instincts): Eg. Attraction
to opposite sex.
• Spontaneous -(sustained by a sentiment):
mothers attention to child’s cry.
– Volitional: Voluntary with will. There is always a
goal behind it.
• Implicit -(obtained by a single act of will)Eg.
Attending to a mathematical problem when
teacher threatens of punishment.
• Explicit -(obtained by repeated acts of will. It
requires strong will power and strong motives.)
Eg. Attention paid during examination.

10. Meaning: Degree/Span of Attention
• Attention may not be constricted to one object
at a time; it may be more than one objects.
• Span means the number of objects or events
one individual can attend to at a given time
• It is a threshold to perceive at a glance at a given
duration of exposure: At a glance how many
letters, digits one can see and reproduce
• Amount of information which can be received
from a complex stimulus in a single moment.
• It is different from duration of attention.
Eg. Remembering phone no., learning spelling etc.

11. Test Span of Attention

12. Test Span of Attention
• How many birds are flying in given sceneries?
• How many windows does the house has?
• How many trees are in the sceneries?
• Does the house has a chimney?
• How many doors does the house has?

13. Definition of Span of attention

14. Measured by Tachistoscope
A tachistoscope is a device that
displays an image for a specific
amount of time. It can be used to
increase recognition speed, to
show something too fast to be
consciously recognized, or to test
which elements of an image are
memorable. Before computers
became common, tachistoscopes
were used extensively in
psychological research to present
visual stimuli for controlled
durations.

15. Duration of Attention
• It is defined as the length of one’s ability to pay
attention toward perceived stimuli. It is understood
under two divisions.
a. Shifting /fluctuation of attention: in the course of time
the centre our consciousness shifts either from one
stimulus to another stimulus or from one part to
another part in the same stimulus. We have central
and marginal consciousness. A wall clock in a room is
central consciousness and other things in the room are
marginal.
b. Sustained attention: done with the help of strong
desire. Continuous concentration on one
happening/object. Eg. A hunter waits for his shot,
solving a Math’s problem.

16. Alteration in attention/Distraction
• It is the changes in the forms, modes and quality of
the attention paid to a stimulus. Kind of stimulus
which distracts our attention from the objects which
we are focusing
• A distracter may be defined as any stimulus whose
presence interferes with the process of attention.
• Example:
-Sound of music played on streets – disturbs –
attention of the students in a classroom

17. Causes of Distraction
• Internal: headache, stomachache,
emotional disturbance, anxiety, mis-
happening etc.
• External: noise, music, improper
lighting, uncomfortable seats,
unfavorable temperature,
inadequate ventilation, improper
behavior of person dealing with us.

18. Methods of Eliminating Distraction
• Much emphasis and importance must be
given to the task
• Create favorable situation
• Make lesson interesting
• Training in concentration
• Attention-distracting objects removed from
the neighborhood
• Encounter same type of distraction everyday
– used to them and start ignoring it

19. Inattention
• The absence of attention to a particular stimuli.
• Its outward signs –
a. The student is careless about the object which
of primary attention
b. Movement of students’ eyes are random and
not fixed
c. Seems to be perplexed – does not understand
and receive clear impressions
d. Seems to be restless and writhing/squirming
movements of the body. Restlessness.

20. Causes of Inattention
Lack of
interest or
need
Fatigue
Presence of
distraction
Lack of Motivation

21. Types of Inattention
• Absolute in attention: disappearance of
complete consciousness.
• Partial in-attention: careless attention/ low
intensified attention.

22. Nursing Implications
• Receive necessary instructions from attending
doctors, change of shift etc.
• Alertness for execution of professional duties.
• One nurse has to take care of more than one
patients.
• Overcome the obstacles of attention by
removing internal and external distractions.

23. THANK
YOU