The term "attention" describes the concentration and orientation of mental activity on a particular subject. Since it reflects the relationship of the subject and the object, attention is bi-directional. That is, it is aimed at the object, while the object itself attracts attention. A characteristic feature of the category is that the orientation of thinking is selective. The subject on which it is directed is clearly and clearly recognized. The phenomenon of selective focus is central to the study of this category.
Attention Functions
Orientation, first of all, implies the selectivity of mental activity. Also included in this concept is the ability to maintain activity for a specified period of time. That is, to be careful, it is not enough to choose some kind of activity, it is also necessary to keep this choice. It is not so difficult to direct your attention, how to keep it for the right time.
Describing the functions of attention, it is also necessary to mention the depth and concentration. These functions depend on the difficulty of the task, the chosen activity. The more complicated it is, the greater depth is inherent in attention. Along with this, concentration is closely related to distraction from extraneous matters. The higher the concentration, the less distinctly the person perceives the surrounding.
Attention also provides a function of control and regulation of activities. This is due to the fact that, being focused on the implementation of a certain type of activity, a person takes all other things to the periphery. A person remains focused on solving a specific problem until a specific goal is achieved.
Attention is often expressed in movements, posture, facial expressions. An attentive listener is very different from an inattentive. However, in some cases, attention may not be directed to a specific object, but to thoughts or images that are in the human mind. In this case, we can talk about intellectual attention. In the case when a person is most focused on physical actions, use the term "motor attention". Thus, the attention functions only provide the activity of various processes, but do not have their own cognitive content.
Attention per se refers to cognitive functions like perception, sensation, imagination, thinking and memory. So, attention increases the effectiveness of the activity to which it is directed.
Types and properties of attention
The first view is natural attention. It is inherited. Social is developed throughout life when communicating with people. Attention functions and types are closely interconnected. Involuntary is very closely related to the natural, but not related to consciousness and will, information is stored arbitrarily. Arbitrary attention is inherently closer to social. The activities are carried out according to a plan thought out in advance. Sensual is characterized by the concentration of feelings on a phenomenon or object. Intellectual attention controls the thinking of a person, his logic. This is how types of attention look and their characteristics.
One of the most important properties of this mental process is stability, that is, the ability to focus on a specific object. Concentration is the ability to focus on a single object for a long period of time. Attention also has switchability. This property allows a person to translate it between different objects. Distribution allows you to focus on several objects at once. Volume characterizes the number of objects or objects that a person simultaneously holds in the field of attention.