#sustained attention

[neuroawesomeness]

[its-all-in-yourhead]

attention

~focused attention~ being aware of things around you. Hearing, seeing or feeling.

~sustained attention~ continuing to give attention with repeated stimuli. example: raising your hand everytime you hear a certain noise. To me, its remembering to do a certain action at a certain time for extended amount of time.

~selective attention~ maintaining attention while there are other distractions. focusing on something while a bunch of other things are going on.

~alternating attention~ being able to switch between totally different activities. Having a conversation at dinner stop and order and then return your conversation right where you left off.

~divided attention~ also known as multi-tasking. performing a task while also doing something else.

I know for me now my ability to tune things out is shot. I notice every little detail. I notice how many times the girl has walked by. Different noises in a whole bunch of noise, like a clicking noise mixed in with a hammer banging. Its exhausting how you seem to pick up on every little detail. Its hard for the mind to just rest.

[silezukuk]

Sustained attention is the level of attention that produces consistent results on a task over time. If the task is handling fragile objects, such as hand-washing delicate crystal glasses, then a person showing sustained attention will stay on task and will not break any dishes. A person who loses focus may break a glass or may stop washing the dishes to do something else. Most healthy teenagers and adults are unable to sustain attention on one thing for more than about 20 minutes at a time, although they can choose repeatedly to re-focus on the same thing. This ability to renew attention permits people to "pay attention" to things that last for more than a few minutes, such as long movies.

Wikipedia

[sustainedattention-blog]

A recent NY Times blog post about the situation in Syria, the perceived stakes, and possible action.