[Page 3041]Attention is the process of selectively directing cognitive resources on a particular aspect of information at the expense of perceiving other information. Attention is constrained by the fact that humans have limited resources and capacity for the information that they select and attend to. The amount of available attention may vary by task, individual, and situation. One type of attention is that which is focused inward on oneself, or self-focused attention.

Self-focused attention is a cognitive focus on internal, self-referent information. The content of this awareness can include physical information, such as an awareness of one’s physiological sensations, as well as information from thoughts and emotions, including memories, beliefs, values, and attitudes. This internal focus is in contrast to an attentional focus on other external ...