Attention and concentration

What are attention and concentration?

Attention is:

The ability to focus on something whilst filtering out other information. Attention allows us to ‘tune out’ information, sensations and thoughts that are not relevant at that moment and instead focus our energy on what is important.

Concentration is:

The ability to keep our attention on something for a continuous period. It is otherwise known as ‘sustained attention’.

Attention and concentration are important for learning. We need to attend to and concentrate on things in order to understand and remember them.

How psychology helps us to understand attention and concentration

• 

  We know that our brains are able to focus on one thing whilst filtering other things out.

• We also know that whilst we are focussing on one thing, our brains are unconsciously checking
  out whether anything else important is happening.
• Because of this, attention is often compared to a spotlight – with an area of focus (what we are
  actively paying attention to) and the fringe (what our brain is unconsciously checking out).
• This is how other information can ‘break into’ our attention without us realising it is happening.
  This is why we may hear our name mentioned in a busy room even if we are paying attention to
  a conversation with someone else (Listen to: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008cy1j for more
  information about this).
• Some researchers view attention as a sort of muscle that can be strengthened with practice.
• Most psychological theories of attention divide it up into three different activities:

  > Selective attention: the sort of attention that helps us to ignore distractions. For example, being able to listen to only one person while others are speaking in a room.
  > Sustained attention (concentration): the sort of attention that keeps our mind focussed on one thing for a period of time, so that we can think about, learn or remember it. For example, being able to focus on reading a book for ten minutes without paying attention to the other things around us or to wandering thoughts.
  > Attentional switching: our ability to ‘unhook’ our attention from one thing and redirect it to something else. For example, when we stop part way through watching a TV programme or playing a game to come and eat a meal instead.

Five fabulous facts about attention

1. We can pay attention (attend) for longer when we are receiving information through different senses at the same time. For example, if we are watching a video, the combination of sight and sound together holds our attention more easily than just listening to a radio programme.
2. When working with younger children, it’s better to give them information in small chunks. As children grow up, they can generally attend for longer and become less distracted by external information.
3. When we are more interested in something, we can usually attend to it more easily and concentrate on it for longer.
4. When we are preoccupied with thoughts and feelings – for example, if we are excited or stressed – it is more difficult to attend to and concentrate on other things.
5. Some individuals may seem naturally to have more control over their attention, but most people’s ability to pay attention will vary depending on lots of things such as how tired, how hungry, or how comfortable they are

Things that can help us concentrate

• Having fewer distractions coming in through our senses, for example fewer pictures on the walls, less noise, tidy working areas.
• Making sure that unfinished tasks do not pile up.
• Using a child’s name and questions to help them switch their attention to us.
• Keeping information simple, clear and well-organised. Breaking tasks into short, simple steps & predictable routines are helpful.
• Giving short breaks between periods of more intense concentration (like resting your muscles in the gym).
• Teaching attention skills. This means teaching how to plan and to use self-instruction to reduce distraction (e.g. learning scripts to say to oneself in order to keep on track). Mindfulness practice can help in this way too.
• Motivate. Explain why we are asking a child to do something and why we believe they can do it.
• Positive feedback. Make sure children and young people get noticed for the times when they do concentrate and when they do complete something, even if it feels like those times are few and far between.