4.1. Attention The concept of attention. The mental life of a person flows along a certain channel. This orderliness is achieved due to a special state of the psyche - attention. Attention is a state of focus and concentration of consciousness on any objects with

Attention Every hour, every minute, thousands of external stimuli climb into our eyes and ears, flooding our brains. At the same time, we realize - just pay attention - only a handful of them. Take a closer look at what you are doing right now, such as reading this book. Looking up from the text

Attention is not an independent cognitive process, since it does not reflect anything by itself, and as a separate mental phenomenon does not exist. At the same time, attention is one of the most important components of human cognitive activity, since it, arising on the basis of cognitive processes organizes and regulates their functioning. Because the cognitive activity is carried out consciously, then attention performs one of the functions of consciousness.

Attention- this is a special state of consciousness, thanks to which the subject directs and focuses cognitive processes for a more complete and clear reflection of reality. Attention is associated with all sensory and intellectual processes. This connection is most noticeable in sensations and perceptions.

Characteristics of attention:

Sustainability- the duration of attracting attention to the same object or to the same task.

Concentration of attention– increase in signal intensity when the field of perception is limited. Concentration offers not only a long retention of attention on the object, but also a distraction from all other influences that are not important for the subject at the moment.

attention span manifests itself as a result of the concentration of consciousness on an object in order to obtain the most complete information about him.

Distribution of attention- the subjectively experienced ability of a person to keep a certain number of heterogeneous objects in the center of attention at the same time.

switchability- this is the speed of transition from one type of activity to another (absent-mindedness - poor switchability).

Objectivity of attention associated with the ability to highlight certain complexes of signals in accordance with the task, personal significance, relevance of signals, etc.

attention span It is characterized by the number of objects that the subject can direct and focus attention on in a fraction of a second. The volume of attention is determined by means of special devices-tachistoscopes. At one moment, a person can pay attention to only a few objects (from 4 to 6).

Types of attention:

The manifestation of attention is associated with both sensory and intellectual processes, as well as with practical actions and with the goals and objectives of the activity. In this regard, the following types of attention are distinguished: sensory, intellectual, motor, intentional and unintentional attention.

sensory attention occurs when objects act on the sense organs. It provides a clear reflection of objects and their properties in the sensations and perceptions of a person. Thanks to sensory attention, the images of objects that arise in the mind are clear and distinct. Sensory attention can be visual, auditory, olfactory etc. Basically, a person shows visual and auditory attention. The best studied in psychology is visual attention, since it is easy to detect and fix.

motor attention directed to the movements and actions performed by a person. It makes it possible to more clearly and clearly understand the techniques and methods used in practical activities. Motor attention regulates and controls movements and actions directed at an object, especially in those cases when they must be especially clear and precise. intellectual attention is aimed at more efficient functioning of such cognitive processes as: memory, imagination and thinking. Thanks to this attention, a person remembers and reproduces information better, creates clearer images of the imagination, and thinks clearly and productively. Since this attention has an internal character and is little available for research, it is the least studied in psychology.

Intentional (voluntary) attention arises when the subject has a goal or task to be attentive to some external object or to an internal mental action. It is mainly aimed at regulating external sensory and motor actions and internal cognitive processes. Intentional attention can become voluntary when the subject needs to show an effort of will in order to direct and focus attention on an object that needs to be known or that needs to be acted upon.

If the focus and concentration of attention are associated with a conscious goal, we are talking about voluntary attention. N. F. Dobrynin singled out another type of attention - post-voluntary attention (this is attention that naturally accompanies the activity of the individual; it occurs if the individual is absorbed in activity; it is associated with the existing system of associations). This can take place when the goal of paying attention remains, but volitional efforts disappear. Such attention begins to manifest itself when an activity that requires volitional effort becomes exciting and is carried out without much difficulty.

If direction and concentration are involuntary, we are talking about involuntary attention. According to K.K. Platonov, one of the forms of involuntary attention is a setting (a state of readiness or predisposition of a person to act in a certain way). Unintentional (involuntary) attention arises by itself without any purpose on the part of the person. It is caused by properties and qualities of objects and phenomena of the external world that are significant for a person. One of these properties is the novelty of the object. Involuntary attention is also attracted by all strong stimuli: bright light, loud sound, pungent smell, etc. Sometimes attention can be attracted by not very noticeable stimuli if they correspond to the needs, interests and attitudes of the individual.

Psychology is a very subtle and multifaceted science. In this article we will consider the types of attention and try to characterize them.

Attention, its types and properties

In Russian psychology, scientists distinguish the following main types:

• arbitrary;
• involuntary;
• post-voluntary.

When we are engaged in a certain business exclusively for own will, then the orientation will represent an arbitrary or involuntary character. At a time when we are doing something because we have set ourselves a goal and we need to do it, then the nature of concentration will already be arbitrary. We suggest that you consider in detail the types of attention.

This type of attention arises spontaneously, regardless of what the person is doing at the moment. The main reason for the emergence of this type of attention is the environment, human environment as well as instincts and emotions. A person experiences a sudden interest in an occupation for no apparent reason, but at the same time they exist. Involuntary attention can be triggered by harsh external stimuli, such as flashes of light, unpleasant smells, and sudden loud noises. At night, our body reacts more strongly to irritants of this kind. In addition, unfamiliar or little-known sounds attract more attention.

Personal attention is attracted by unusual details of stimuli, such as color, size, length, and other parameters. The attitude of a person to this stimulus is also of great importance. For example, if an irritant causes unpleasant associations or sensations, then a person will have negative ones. And those stimuli that will cause a positive reaction in a person will be able to attract his attention for a long period of time.

Consider an arbitrary type of attention and its functions. hallmark is the fact that a person is given a goal to perform certain tasks. The main function is control over mental processes. This type of attention is often called active; it appears in a person as a result of his perseverance and concentration. The mind helps us to understand what is important at the moment and helps to distract from involuntary attention. In young children, voluntary attention begins to form only after reaching the age of two.

This type of attention is characterized by the following: at first, a person had voluntary attention, which worked due to willpower, and then the process turned into involuntary attention due to the person’s emotions.

Introduction

The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that the psychology of attention is one of the classical areas of psychology. It was studied by N. N. Lange, P. Ya. Galperin, N. F. Dobrynin and many others. She has accumulated in her arsenal a large number of ways to explore and diagnose different aspects of attention, a lot of general recommendations and specific techniques for the active development of children's attention different ages and adults. attention physiological concentration

A certain difficulty that confronts a person who wants to understand the psychology of attention lies in the fact that, on the one hand, the answer to the question of what attention, attentiveness and inattention is, at a practical, everyday level, is known not only by any adult, but also by almost every child. On the other hand, attention is a very complex section of psychological knowledge, which in Lately attracts increasing interest of psychologists and gives rise to complex and ambiguous theories of explanation.

The problem of attention is often considered only in connection with other mental functions: memory, thinking, imagination, perception. Indeed, manifestations of attention cannot be seen separately from them, in their pure form. Therefore, in many psychology textbooks, attention is treated as a kind of secondary, auxiliary mental function. Without attention as the ability to actively focus on one thing, the main thing, discarding everything random, unnecessary at the moment, life is impossible.

The concept of attention in psychology

Attention is the focus and concentration of our consciousness on a particular object. Anything can be the object of attention - objects and their properties, phenomena, relationships, actions, thoughts, feelings of other people and one's own inner world.

Attention is not an independent mental function; it cannot be observed by itself. This is a special form of human mental activity, and it is included as a necessary component in all types of mental processes. Attention is always a characteristic of some mental process: perception, when we listen, examine, sniff, trying to distinguish any visual or sound image, smell; thinking when we solve some problem; memory, when we remember something specific or try to remember; imagination, when we try to visualize something clearly. Thus, attention is the ability of a person to choose what is important for himself and focus his perception, thinking, recollection, imagination, etc. on it.

Attention -- necessary condition quality performance of any activity. It performs the function of control and is especially necessary in learning, when a person is faced with new knowledge, objects, phenomena.

Both the schoolboy and the student, no matter how talented or capable they may be, will always have gaps in knowledge if their attention is not sufficiently developed and they are often inattentive or distracted in class. Attention largely determines the course and results of educational work.

The physiological basis of attention is orienting-exploratory reflexes, which are caused by new stimuli or unexpected changes in the situation. I. P. Pavlov called them “what is it?” reflexes. He wrote: “Every minute every new stimulus that falls on us causes a corresponding movement on our part in order to become better, more fully aware of this stimulus.

Types of attention

Attention can be involuntary (unintentional) or voluntary (intentional). The term "arbitrary" is formed not from the word "arbitrariness", but from the word "volition", meaning will, desire. Involuntary attention does not depend on our desire, nor on our will or intentions. It happens, arises as if by itself, without any effort on our part.

What can attract involuntary attention? There are a lot of such objects and phenomena, they can be divided into two groups.

Firstly, this is everything that attracts attention with its external properties:

Bright light phenomena (lightning, colorful advertising, lights suddenly turned on or off);

Unexpected taste sensations (bitterness, acidity, unfamiliar taste);

Something new (a friend's dress, a passing car of an unknown brand, a changed expression on the face of a person who was just talking to, etc.);

Objects and phenomena that cause surprise, admiration, delight in a person (paintings by artists, music, various manifestations of nature: sunset or sunrise, picturesque river banks, gentle calm or a formidable storm at sea, etc.), while many aspects of reality seem to fall out of his sight.

Secondly, everything that is interesting and important for this person. For example, we are looking interesting film or a TV show, and all our attention is directed to the screen. A common person will not pay attention to any traces in the forest, but the attention of the hunter, the ranger will be literally absorbed by these traces, and the attention of the mushroom picker will be directed to the mushrooms.

A book on dog breeding will arouse the involuntary attention of a cynologist (a person who professionally breeds dogs), but the same book will be uninteresting and will not attract the attention of a person who is indifferent to dogs.

Most often, what is interesting for a person is what is connected with his main, favorite activities in life, with the business that is important to him.

Involuntary attention can be caused and internal state organism. A person experiencing a feeling of hunger cannot but pay attention to the smell of food, the sound of dishes, the sight of a plate of food.

When it comes to involuntary attention, we can say that we do not pay attention to certain objects, but they themselves capture our attention. But sometimes, and very often, you have to make an effort on yourself - to break away from interesting book or another activity and begin to do something else, intentionally switch your attention to another object. Here we are already dealing with arbitrary (intentional) attention, when a person sets a goal for himself and makes efforts to achieve it. In other words, a person has certain intentions, and he tries (himself, of his own free will) to carry them out. Conscious goal, intention is always expressed in words.

The ability to arbitrarily direct and maintain attention developed in a person in the process of labor, since without this it is impossible to carry out a long and systematic labor activity.

Performance learning activities makes high demands on the level of development of voluntary attention. A number of conditions for organizing educational activities contribute to the development and strengthening of the voluntary attention of schoolchildren:

The student's awareness of the significance of the task: what more important task, how stronger desire fulfill it, the more attention is attracted;

Interest in the final result of the activity makes you remind yourself that you need to be careful;

Raising questions in the course of performing activities, the answers to which require attention;

Verbal report of what has been done and what still needs to be done;

Certain organization of activities.

Voluntary attention sometimes turns into so-called post-voluntary attention. One of the conditions for such a transition is an interest in a particular activity. As long as the activity is not very interesting, volitional efforts are required from a person to focus on it. For example, in order for a person to solve a mathematical problem, he must constantly keep his attention on it. However, sometimes the solution of a problem becomes so difficult for a person interesting business that the tension is weakened, and sometimes disappears completely, all the attention itself is focused on this activity, and it is no longer distracted by the conversations of other people, the sounds of music, etc. Then we can say that attention has turned from voluntary into involuntary, or post-voluntary ( post-arbitrary).

Chapter 12

12.1 Functions of attention and its varieties

Attention- reflects the direction and concentration of human consciousness on certain objects, which ensures their particularly clear reflection.

Main functions of attention:

· Ensuring the selection of information entering the body in accordance with its actual needs.

Ensuring selective and long-term concentration of mental activity on one object or type of activity

Activation of necessary and inhibition of currently unnecessary mental processes.

Types of attention

There are several approaches to the classification of different types of attention: based on the leading analyzer, according to the focus on various objects, according to main form activities in which attention is involved, etc.

According to the form of activity allocate sensory-perceptual attention, when the main type of human activity is the perception of information. This attention is realized through the work of the senses - for example, fixing the goalkeeper on the movement of the ball across the field, or the attention of a person listening to music. intellectual attention is activated when solving thought processes; motor attention is important when controlling the work of the muscular system (for example, in an athlete when performing complex movements). It is clear that some activities require combined attention. Thus, when a surgeon performs a complex operation, all three types of attention are activated.

According to the leading analyzer There are visual, auditory, kinesthetic, gustatory, olfactory and other types of attention. For example, a spectator who watches a ballet has active visual and auditory attention, while a coffee taster has mainly olfactory and gustatory attention.

By direction distinguish external(directed to external world), internal(aimed at sensations coming from within the body) and borderline attention (aimed at assessing sensations from the skin and mucous membranes).

Degree of volitional control Distinguish between involuntary, voluntary and post-voluntary attention. Some objects themselves “attract” our attention, while focusing on others requires some effort. First attention is called involuntary ("passive"). It can be caused either by the characteristics of the stimulus (its strength, brightness, loudness, etc.) or by the connection between the object and the needs of the person.

The second kind of attention arbitrary(it is also called "active"), is controlled by volitional effort. In this case, a person focuses on the object, even if he is not interested in it, but is needed to achieve the goal. So the seller must pay attention to every person who enters the store, because any of them may turn out to be a potential buyer and purchase goods. This type of attention can be enhanced due to a number of factors: practical action and removal of distracting stimuli.

Post-voluntary attention takes an intermediate character - at first it requires volitional efforts, and then, as a person begins to be interested in the process he is observing, it passes into involuntary.

12.2 Properties of attention

Human attention has different properties (Fig. 12.1). When a person focuses it at one point, they talk about high concentration attention, when it maintains its activity for a long time - about sustainability. The amount of attention is determined by the number of simultaneously clearly perceived objects (it coincides with the amount of short-term memory). Selectivity attention is called the possibility of successfully adjusting attention to the conscious perception of information in the presence of interference. The ability of attention to quickly switch from one object to another expresses switchability attention, and the simultaneous perception of several objects or the performance of several actions is called distribution attention. True, some psychologists believe that the latter property actually reflects a very rapid switching of attention, when it moves so quickly from one object to another that the observer has the illusion of simultaneously focusing attention on several objects. There is a legend that the Roman ruler Julius Caesar could do several things at the same time: read, listen and give orders. Most likely, he simply could very quickly switch his attention from one thing to another, but this ability made a strong impression on his contemporaries.

Evaluation of the properties of attention:

Concentration and sustainability attention is determined using a correction test: Bourdon's test (letters) or Landolt's rings (rings with a gap in four positions).

Switching and distribution attention is determined using the Schulte table (25 black numbers) or the red-black Platonov-Schulte table (24 red and 25 black numbers).

Switching attention can also be assessed using the Bourdon test, if you ask the subject to cross out one letter. and underline - another. The distribution of attention is not defined.

12.3 Physiological bases of attention.

According to I.P. Pavlova, attention reflects the presence in the cortex of the cerebral hemispheres focus of excitation, which, in turn, is a manifestation of an unconditioned orienting reflex. Such a focus of excitation, due to the process of negative induction, inhibits neighboring areas of the cerebral cortex, and at the same time all the mental activity of the organism is focused on one object.

According to Ukhtomsky, attention is determined dominant- the dominant, stable focus of excitation in the cortex. The dominant not only inhibits other foci of excitation, but is also able to intensify at their expense, switching to itself the processes of excitation that occur in others. nerve centers. The intensity of attention is especially pronounced when the goal is due to biologically significant motivation (hunger, thirst, sexual instinct). In this case, there is a kind of "pumping" of nervous energy from the part of the brain associated with the satisfaction of needs, to the part of the cortex associated with a certain object of the external world.

According to modern scientific data, in the process of activating attention, other brain structures play an important role in addition to the cerebral cortex. For example, thalamus serves as a kind of filter that filters out part of the information, and passes only new and important signals to the cortex. Reticular formation activates the brain and is an important energy component of the attention process.

12.5 Theories of attention

In psychology, there are six main approaches that explain the phenomenon of attention (Fig. 12.2). Each of them considers one side in the complex complex of human mental activity to be the main one, but so far none of these hypotheses has received universal recognition. It is possible that the true mechanisms of attention are either a form of integration of the processes described below, or due to other reasons.

The first, emotional, approach to understanding attention was promoted by T. Ribot, who believed that attention is always associated with emotions and is caused by them. Ribot believed that the intensity and duration of voluntary attention is due to the characteristics of those emotions that are caused by the object of attention. Such a view of attention is quite legitimate, because emotion is the body's reaction to the probability of satisfying an urgent need, and the body's attention is primarily riveted to such objects.

The second approach was put forward by scientists I. Herbert and W. Hamilton, who believed that more intense representations suppress less intense ones, forcing them into the subconscious, and what remains in the mind and attracts our attention.

The third approach is that attention is interpreted as the result of apperception, that is, the life experience of the individual. At the same time, in nervous system(perhaps at the level of the thalamus) the incoming information is filtered based on the needs, knowledge and life experience of a person.

The fourth approach was developed by the Georgian scientist D.N. Uznadze, who argued that the attitude internally expresses the state of attention. The process of isolating a certain image under the influence of an attitude from the whole variety of surrounding objects, Uznadze called "objectification".

The fifth approach focuses on the motor aspect of the attention process. The fact is that involuntary attention is based on an orienting reflex - turning the body to a new source of irritation and tuning the analyzers to it. These phenomena occur when active participation muscles, so attention can be interpreted as a specially organized motor adaptation to the environment.

The sixth approach comes from the physiological idea of ​​attention as a complexly organized focus of excitation in the cerebral cortex, which suppresses the activity of neighboring areas of the brain. At present, physiologists believe that such a hypothesis interprets the process of attention too primitively, since the concentration of attention very often involves not only individual parts of the cortex, but the entire brain as a whole.

Synthetic ideas about the nature of attention include the concept of attention by P.Ya. Halperin, consisting of the following provisions:

1. Attention - there is one of the moments of the orienting and research activity of a person.

2. The main function of attention is control over the content of an action or mental image.

3. Attention has no independent result and is a service process. As an independent act, attention is released only when the action becomes mental and reduced.

Attention Research in Cognitive Psychology

In cognitive psychology, three groups of theories regarding the mechanisms of attention can be distinguished:

1. Attention as a selection.

2. Attention as mental effort or resources.

3. Attention as a perceptual action

Attention as a selection.

This approach was focused on the study of selection mechanisms (selection of one object from several). An example of selection is the “cocktail party” situation, when out of many sounding voices a person can arbitrarily select the voices of certain people, recognize their speech, ignoring the voices of other people.

The first hypothesis of selective attention (early selection model) was created by D. Broadbent in his work "Perception and Communication". He compared the functioning of attention to the work of an electromechanical filter that selects information based on sensory features and works on the principle of an all-or-nothing neuron. This concept proceeded from the fact that the processing system is a channel with limited throughput, therefore, in order to select the necessary and ignore unnecessary information, a filter is located in front of this channel, which works based on the parameters determined by the final task of the activity. Information enters from the environment into the sensory register (receptors), then into short-term memory (here the information is processed in parallel) and then into the filter. The latter is connected with the system of long-term memory (repository of conditional probabilities of past events), which determines what should be extracted from the information flow. The filter setting is determined by the parameters of the current activity task (Fig. 12.3). Thus, attention is a filter in the information processing system, making it possible to perceive in a system with limited bandwidth and tuned to certain aspects of stimulation.

Attention as a mental effort or allocation of resources.

Theories aimed at studying the power characteristics of attention answered the question of what determines the policy of distributing the energy of attention to different objects. One of the models of attention created within the framework of this approach was proposed by D. Kahneman. Here are some of the points of this approach:

1. Attention is a waste of psychic forces for something, and since forces (resources) are never enough, the task of attention is to optimally distribute them among the many objects of the external world.

2. The degree of mental effort (activation) is determined not so much by the desires of the subject as by the objective complexity of the task.

3. The main factor in the distribution of resources for a person is the "block for assessing the requirements of the task to the resources of attention."

4. There is another block (“permanent rules”) that works according to the laws of involuntary attention and can interfere with the process of solving a problem, redistributing energy between individual current tasks.

5. Also, the distribution of the energy of attention is influenced by the “block of desires and intentions acting at the moment”, working on the principle of arbitrary actions.

6. The intensity of attention is also affected by the general activation state of the body. If it falls below a certain value, tasks cannot be completed.

Attention as a perceptual action

This approach was proposed by W. Neisser, who introduced the concept of "preattention" and identified two processes of information processing: at the first stage - passive, and the second, active - during the construction of the image. Attention was considered by this author as a perceptive action, which is largely automatic, innate, but can be modified in the process of learning. Changes in the settings of attention during learning prepare the subject to receive certain information and facilitate the selective use of its desired elements.

12.6 Attention disorder

Attention disorders are understood as negative changes in the direction, selectivity or stability of mental activity, noted in a state of fatigue or in violation of the normal functioning of the brain (both functional and organic nature). There are several types of attention disorders (Fig. 12.4).