• Entry
  • Reader's guide
  • Entries A-Z
  • Subject index
icon backReturn to Entries

Attention

Definition

Attention refers to a wide variety of phenomena, including arousal, alertness, consciousness, and awareness. In general, however, attention is defined as both a process of concentration, such as trying to remember, understand, or search for information, and a mental resource that has limited capacity. Attention is selective in that it involves focusing on a certain stimulus to the exclusion of others.

Focus of Attention

The focus of attention may be an external stimulus (e.g., a telephone, another person, or traffic) or an internal mental event (e.g., thinking about your day or trying to recall a name or past event). Stimuli that stand out, that is, are more salient, tend to capture a person's attention. The salience of a stimulus depends on the larger social context. Stimuli that ...

    • Loading...
    locked icon

    Sign in to access this content

    Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

    • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
    • Read modern, diverse business cases
    • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles