Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

DEFINITION OF ATTENTION
ATTENTION
sinónimo de “alerta” y “activación fisiológica”

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

 POINT OF VIEW PSYCHOLOGY
STRUCTURALIST

Attention associated with consciousness.

Process by which the elements of the
awareness becomes clearer and sharper in a
determined moment.

The more active it is

organism, more attentive he
will behave.

Cognitive Psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

 "Attention is a "}
concept linked to the
awareness.
Attention determines
the content of the
consciousness and the
awareness, through
of interest and the
intention, guide the
attention
William James
Father of studies on attention

selectivity: has
ability to choose
among the multiple stimuli
to which it is exposed

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

 TYPES OF ATTENTION
Selective attention: studies the processes of the
organism to respond to a stimulus
excluding the others.

Divided attention: studies the processes of

organization to serve and respond to two or more
tasks that must be performed simultaneously.

Sustained attention: type of attention needed

to adequately respond to monotonous tasks
that involve attention for long periods. It has
relationship with 'paying attention'

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

 SELECTIVE ATTENTION
Investigations have focused on the
auditory and visual attention.

The phenomenon of the cocktail

Colin Cherry at the party.
It is possible to 'disconnect'.
a sensory channel of
entry in favor of another.

Cognitive Psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

MODALITIES OF CARE
SENSORY MODE
A. VISUAL

Cognitive Psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

Modalities of Care
A. AUDITORY
Attend to the stimuli that
they reach the brain through acoustic means.

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

 MODELS OF SELECTIVE ATTENTION
• Broadbent (1958) considered attention
like a filter.
• Treisman (1969) called it "selective process"
attentive.
• Attention is a mechanism that acts as a filter.
selective, allowing the entry of
certain stimulating patterns to the
consciousness.
• Unwanted messages would not go to the
consciousness would not be processed.

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

FOCUSED VISUAL ATTENTION

Metaphor with the projector.

Anne Treisman: Theory of the
integration of traits. Part
from the distinction between
objects and the traits of
objects.

Cognitive Psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

DIVIDED ATTENTION
It happens when we have to perform two tasks
simultaneous.

What is the reason that two tasks turn out more or less
difficult to carry out?

When different channels participate.

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

 Factors that influence the
divided attention
Task difficulty level: how to converse and
walk at the same time. But to determine at the level of
difficulty of the tasks it is necessary to consider the
personal characteristics of the participants.

Similarity: Generally, the tasks that are usually done

simultaneously they are quite different tasks
(walking and listening to the radio). These are tasks that
involve skills with sensory modalities
different.

Practice of tasks: the more one exercises a

task, less attention resources will be used.

Cognitive Psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

How is it explained that a person can divide the
attention to handle two or more tasks?
It depends on the amount of
attention that requires each
one of the tasks. The
execution will be very poor if
the two tasks require a lot
attention, while the
tasks could be executed
with good performance if
between the two do not exhaust everything
the attention resources.

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

Model of Dan Kahneman
Processor Policy of
central assignment
Awakening
Provisions Task 1
durable Task 2
Ability to Intentions Task 3
the attention momentary
Level of
Evaluation of difficulty
Distribute the demands
Answers
Activation
resources of physiological
the attention
Some tasks, regardless of the level of difficulty,
they cannot be carried out jointly.

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

 AUTOMATIC PROCESSES AND
CONTROLLED
Practice is the reason that explains the
automation of certain
processes.

C Scarce attention consumption

R It is acquired through learning.
I Once acquired, it is difficult to modify.
T Does not require conscious effort
E Produce little interference in situations
R of double duty
I It assumes cognitive economy in tasks.
O routine
S Acquisition is facilitated with level of
high activation (high arousal)

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Norman and Shallice: The actions
completely automated
they execute without one being aware
of the processes involved. There are
actions that do not require attention,
others that require a lot of attention and
others that require attention
intermediate.

There is a very high level of awareness and

control exercised by the System
Supervised Attention Service (SAS)
Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.
 CONDUCTS WITHOUT INTENTION
(SLIPS):
Their behaviors 'unintentionally'. Slips
They happen in very executions
practiced and in actions
overlearned.
The very frequent slips in the
automated behaviors.
The cause is the failures in the
Attention: Failures of
storage, failed tests.
Errors in the subroutines, failures of
discrimination, failures to couple the
programs.

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

MOTOR CONTROL AND ATTENTION

A large part of the brain regions are involved:

The cerebellum + the motor cortex.

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

 Stroop Effect

The reading automatism interferes with the new response.

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

 ATTENTION AND
CONCENTRATION
Concentration has been defined as
focused attention. It relates to surveillance.
It is normal for parents and teachers to refer
more frequently to this type of attention
what other classes studied in laboratories of
psychology.

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

What processes are involved in
this area of attention?
The physiological activation.
Yerkes-Dodson Law: the optimal level of
stimulation varies with what one is doing.
If something is very easy, it will be done better if it is
very activated, while a task
complicated or difficult it will execute if the level of
activation is something lower.

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

Are there formulas to improve the
surveillance or concentration?
Provide information about the
results.
Take breaks (schedule
rests that involve
sensory variation
Use mechanisms that elevate
arousal, like the activators
motivational, previous, etc.

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

TABLE 1.1 ASPECTS THAT ARE MOST DIRECTLY RELATED
WITH ATTENTIONAL CONTROL

Direct the way attention is oriented.

Guide the processes of exploration and search.
Make the most of the means of concentration.
Minimize distractions as much as possible.
Inhibit inappropriate responses.
Maintaining attention, despite fatigue and/or the

boredom.

Source: Psychology of Attention. Julia García Sevilla (1997)

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

TABLE 1.2. TYPES OF ATTENTION
CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA TYPES OF ATTENTION
Involved mechanisms. Selective/divided, sustained.
Object to which it is addressed the External/internal.
attention.
Involved sensory modality. Selective auditory visualization.
Amplitude / intensity with which Global/selective.
attention is given.

Amplitude and control that is exercised. Concentrated/dispersed.

Manifestations of the processes Open/dispersed.

attentive.
Degree of voluntary control. Voluntary/involuntary.
Degree of processing of the Conscious/unconscious.
untreated information.

Source: Psychology of Attention. Julia García Sevilla (1997)

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

 TABLE 1.3. POSSIBLE BEHAVIOR RECORD SHEET
MOTORS IN RESPONSE TO THE PRESENTATION OF A NOVEL STIMULUS.
BEHAVIOR PARAMETERS QUANTIFICATION
Straighten your head.
0 1 2
Straighten your head and torso.
0 1 2
Tilt your head in search of information.
0 1 2
Orient the head and trunk in search of information.

Point towards the source of stimulation. 0 1 2

It moves towards the source of stimulation. 0 1 2

Look towards the source of stimulation. 0 1 2

Generalized visual exploration of the environment, but without moving the
0 1 2
head.

The quantification of the repertoire of behaviors is carried out as follows: 0 = Absence of

respuesta; 1 = La conducta se inicia en los dos primeros segundos tras la aparición del estímulo; 2 = La
the behavior begins between seconds 3 and 4 after the appearance of the stimulus.

Source: Psychology of Attention. Julia García Sevilla (1997)

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.
TABLE 1.4. LESS DEVELOPED ATTENTIONAL SKILLS IN THE
CHILD WHO IN THE ADULT

Less flexibility to direct attention

adequately.
Great slowness in the changes of care.
Lower capacity to process information
relevant.
Increased susceptibility to distraction.
Difficulties in maintaining attention.
Lower attentional control.
Source: Psychology of Attention. Julia García Sevilla (1997)

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

TABLE 1.5. ATTENTIONAL TEACHING STRATEGIES

Designed to capture the student's attention

Analyze the basic interests in the classroom. In the classroom, the range of interests is extremely
broad and are related to age, sex, socioeconomic status, etc.
Knowing those interests and basing the school activity on them is essential to achieve
the attention of the student, especially in the early years, where it still predominates
involuntary attention.
Inform the student about the possibilities of success in learning and the real level of
difficulties.
Provide structured and organized content.

2. Designed to maintain the student's attention:

Vary the stimuli. A monotonous stimulating environment decreases the level of alertness.
lack of excitations. If there is a change of stimuli or situations, it is easier to maintain the
attention.
Incorporate some type of physical activity into the learning process. For example, a child
those who begin their reading learning direct and maintain their attention better on the text
If at the same time he/she points with his/her finger at the lines.
Create an awareness of satisfaction towards the performance achieved.
Show a degree of affection when transmitting information.
Achieving student satisfaction for attending.
Source: Psychology of Attention. Julia García Sevilla (1997)

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

TABLE 1.6. PERCEPTUAL TESTS THAT INCLUDE TASKS
ATTENTION
Faces. Perception of differences. Based on drawings that
they represent human faces measure abilities to perceive small
differences between the stimuli that are presented.
Letter squares. Composed of squares containing 16 letters,
requires the subject to detect the row or column where one of the
the letters are repeated.
[Link]–1. Measures the ability to discriminate differences in the
spatial orientation.
FI. Identical shapes. Requires the quick identification of a figure that
matches exactly with the proposal as a model among a group of
they have small differences between them.
DAT–CSA. It is a subtest of the DAT battery. The subject's task is
compare groups of letters and/or numbers identifying the only different one among them
they.

Source: Psychology of Attention. Julia García Sevilla (1997)

Cognitive psychology Lic. Natalia Guzmán R.

TABLE 1.7. MENTAL EXERCISES FOR CHILDREN WITH LOW ...
CONCENTRATION AND EXCESSIVE IMAGINATION
For immediate concentration
Number recall exercises under certain conditions (by
example, to remember some of a series of numbers and forget others
remaining).
Think of images that are pleasant, alternating them with
spaces without thinking of anything.
Thinking of images that are not pleasant, alternating with
blank spaces.
Think of any image you want, alternating with spaces without
think of nothing.
2. For the long-term domain of imagination
Enumeration of the moments of the day with the most distraction and classes
of thoughts that are produced.
Hierarchization of the same (hierarchies of imagination).
Elección del pensamiento que menos distrae, para controlarle.
Self-application of muscle relaxation.
Source: Psychology of Attention. Julia García Sevilla (1997)