Attention and perception

ATTENTION AND PERCEPTION

1. Attention and Perception

2. Attention

3. Definitions Attention is defined as a process, which compels the individual to select some particular stimulus according to his interest and attitude out of the multiplicity of stimuli present in the environment Sharma RN-1967 Attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one object rather than upon another Dumville-1938

4. Types of attention 1. Non-volitional/Involuntary Attention : This attention is not under the will of a person. He/she attends to the object/ situation without any conscious efforts by that person. For example, attention towards someone with opposite sex, mother's attention towards the cry of her child etc a) Enforced Non-Volitional Attention : This type of attention is aroused by our instincts. For instance, when we remark mother on her care towards her child, she becomes quite attentive in her caring attitude and the way she cares. - CONTINUE

5. b) Spontaneous Non-volitional Attention : The one aroused by our sentiments is known as spontaneous non-volitional/involuntary attention. For example, when a girl is passing through the ward or hospital where her mother was expired after long treatment, then she will unconsciously focus on that ward, hospital or bed number etc. - CONTINUE

6. 2. Volitional or Voluntary Attention : When we attend some stimuli with own conscious efforts or with our will is known. as volitional attention. In such type, we have clearcut goals before us and we tend focus again and again till the completion of the goal/objectives set already by us. For example , asking for admission fee/prospectus at the reception counter of Khalsa College of Nursing, paying attention towards the time table of the class, answering questions in the examination hall etc. - CONTINUE

7. a) Implicit Volitional Attention : The act which is introduced by motive such as, reward and punishment. For example, when the student nurses are assigned to repeat previous lecture of psychology in the next class, otherwise they will be punished, then this makes the students more attentive to the single task/subject. Hence single act of will/conscious causes attention. - CONTINUE

8. b) Explicit Volitional Attention : Here, we focus by repeated acts of will/conscious efforts against much distraction by other stimuli. For example, the student nurses are paying attention towards writing in the examination hall though lot of distraction is created by construction of building, other classes and admissions going on that same college.

9. DETERMINANTS OF ATTENTION There are many factors that influence the direction and selection of our attention. They determine our attention. 1. Objective or external determinants : There are the qualities and characteristics present in the object of attention. (a) Intensity/potency : The more intense the stimulus, the more likely it is to be attended eg. bright gorgeous shades are catchy. (b) Size/Extensity : Big things always drawn, or one's attention than smaller ones. - CONTINUE

10. (c) Duration : Objects exposed for a longer period of attention have more focus than those shown for shorter period. (d) Novelty: Anything novel or new is instantly noticed eg. new dress, decoration etc (e) Repetition : A weak stimulus frequently repeated becomes centre of consciousness and we attend it. (f) Change : Change may be in size, colour, taste, intensity and in other aspects is necessary to draw one's attention. - CONTINUE

11. (g) systematic form : A definite pattern, or rhythmic flow of stimulus attract our attention. (h) Movement : A running ball, a moving picture, a flying bird is more attended than static one. (I) Location /situation : The location of a stimulus (eg. visual stinmulus in front of eye) determines the direction of attention. (j) colour: A coloured dress, a coloured light has special attention. (k) Contrast : Anything opposite of other stimulus is called contrast. eg. a dwarf in a by us Khalsa group of tall persons. - CONTINUE

12. 2. Internal or subjective determinants : These lie with the individual who attends. (a) Organic needs and motives : Biological needs operating at a moment play a potent role eg. thirsty person will prefer drinking water, a sexually deprived man will attend to females. (b) Habit : A particular habit determines day-to-day attention eg. An alcoholic to wine,a smoker to cigarettes. - CONTINUE

13. (c) Interest : Individual differences in attention to a stimulus occur because of a person's interests eg. a psychiatric nurse's attention may be drawn to the attitude and behaviour of students. (d) Attitudes and mood : A worried depressed person will attend to very small annoyances, a palatable attitude towards flowers will make one to attend to its every detail .

14. FACTORS THAT AFFECT ATTENTION 1. Health factors : + Many health factors may cause to have difficulty with attention splicit er the behaviours. • Ear infections and hearing impairments • Visual infections Physical illness • Preoccupation with pain or discomfort or having an illness. All of these issues should be checked out by a health care professional.

15. 2. Environmental factors : Stressful and challenging situations (eg. a death in the family , parental divorce) may have more difficulty focussing. Some children may be sensitive to physical factors such as strong lighting, materials that are uncomfortable to the touch, and loud noises. These factors may affect children's abilities to sustain their attention and remain engaged during a task. 3. Personality factors : • A low self-esteem may approach a task with caution or fear. - CONTINUE

16. Some have more active personalities where they become bored and restless with certain activities • Some may need activities that are more visual, more auditory, or more physical. • Factors like fatigue, nutrition, caffeine/sugar and bathroom needs can interrupt concentration and completion of tasks.

17. Duration and Degree of Attention Span of Attention : The maximum amount of material that can be attended in one period of attention is called span of attention. This can be visual attention or auditory attention. 1. Span of visual attention: Experiments have been carried out to measure the span of visual attention by making brief exposures to a number of objects. The time of exposure is very short, The objects exposed to the eye are simple like dots, lines, letters or complex words or or triangles, etc. - CONTINUE

18. The mind can attend to only four or five separate units if the items are not grouped into familiar units. But if the items are combined into meaningful wholes, for example, letters are arranged into words, a large number of items can be perceived at once. 2.Span of auditory attention: The number of auditory impressions perceived at a single instance is called span of auditory attention. An adult can perceive eight sounds given rapidly in succession. - CONTINUE

19. But when sounds are given in a rhythm, a much larger number of sounds can be perceived. + Duration of Attention : It refers to how long one can attend to an object without a break. If we attend to a single, simple object for instance a dot it will remain in the focus of our consciousness for only a second at the most, then something in the margin will crowd it out or memory of a past event will intrude. The duration of attention depends upon the nature of the material, the interest of the observer, and other conditions. - CONTINUE

20. Sustained Attention (Act of Fixation of Mind) To sustain attention is to concentrate one's activity continuously upon some object or a happening or a problem. The individual attention always remains on track and the activity proceeds systematically without any serious distraction. All internal as well as external factors of getting attention can be helpful in this track. - CONTINUE

21. Shifting Attention While paying attention towards an object or an event, it is not possible to hold attention continuously with the same intensity for a longer duration. It is constantly shifting from one object to another, from one aspect of the situation to another. We can perform only one voluntary act at a time and not two or more acts at a time. However, we can quickly shift attention from one voluntary act to another. - CONTINUE

22. Division of Attention Division of attention means to attend two or more tasks simultaneously. Psychologists say we cannot attend to two things at a given time and there is no possibility of division of attention. The reason for paying attention to more than one task at a given time can be : + I n performing two task simultaneously one of the two activities requires no attention + Attention rapidly shifts from one task to the other. - CONTINUE

23. DISTRACTION Distraction means any stimulus whose presence interferes with the process attention or draws away attention from object which we wish to attend. HR Bhatia-196 Factors of distraction External Factors: Noise, music, improper lighting, uncomfortable seats, unfavorable temperature, inadequate ventilation, defective methods of teaching, defective voice of the Teacher ect. - CONTINUE

24. Internal Factors: Emotional disturbance, ill health, boredom lack of motivation, fatigue, etc.

25. Types of Distraction 1. Continuous Distraction : The distraction is continuous in nature. For example , the sound of radio played continuously, the noise at the market place. etc. Experiments have shown that adjustment to continuous distraction takes place quickly. 2. Discontinuous Distraction : It is irregular. For example, the hearing of somebody's voice every now and then. It interferes with work because of the possibility of adjustment.

26. Some majo r means of removing distractions are: + Being active in work + Disregard for distraction + Making the distraction a part of the work

27. Perception

28. Definitions Perception is the experience of objects, events or relationships obtained by extracting information from and interpreting sensations. JH Jackson, O Desiderato and DB Howieson -1976 Perception is an individual's awareness aspect of behavior, for it is the way each person processes the raw data he receives from the environment into meaningful patterns. RE Silverman-1976

29. NATURE OF PERCEPTION 1. Perception is a process: The word 'process means an activity which initially starts (INPUT) and ultimately it reaches at the end (OUTPUT) INPUT ——> PROCESSING ——> OUTPUT + When sensory impressions are gathered through our senses is called "input and the way in which we finally behave or react to this gathered information is termed a "output'. There is a link between input and output for converting input to output is known as "processing'. - CONTINUE

30. 2. Preception involves sensation : There are five senses of an individual. The process/ ability to stimulate our sensory nerves by any stimuli in the environment is known as sensation. When sensation is attached with meaning is perception. Hence, sensation precedes perception. 3.Perception is the information extractor : Various stimuli in the environment are continuously stimulating our sensory receptors. And its very difficult to react to all the stimuli. The perception helps in selecting/extracting the relevant information and converting into a meaningful pattern . - CONTINUE

31. 4. Perception is preparation to response : When an individual analyse, classify, interpret and derive meaning of any stimuli, he/she is now ready to respond/act to that stimuli. 5.Perception provides organisation : When we perceive various stimuli then we perceive not its sum total (of these stimuli), we perceive it as a whole in an organised Partern. For example, a child is looking at a tree, now he will perceive it as a whole . - CONTINUE

32. 6. Perception is highly individualized : Perception is perceived by different individual differently. Every individual will have different perception. Even the same individual has different perception of a same situation.

33. Factors Affecting Perception There are individual differences in perceptual abilities. Two people may perceive the same stimulus differently. 1.Sense Organs : Perception depends upon the sense organs or receptors on which the stimuli act and sensory neurons which transmit the nerve current from the receptors to the sensory area of the brain. For example, if cones are not developed in the retina, color cannot be perceived. - CONTINUE

34. 2.Brain : Perception depends upon the functioning capacity of both the sensory and association areas of the brain. For example, if the auditory area is destroyed we cannot have auditory perception. 3.Memory Images of the Past Experience : Memory images help us in the comprehension of the object or stimulus before us. Generally, perception involves the integration of sensory experience in the light of past experience and present psychological conditions. - CONTINUE

35. Experiments have shown that whenever we come in contact with new stimuli we are inclined to interpret them in terms of our experiences with similar stimuli in the past. For example,a child has come in contact with a horse for the first time. He has already seen a cow. When he is asked what it (horse) is, he may say it is a c o w or like a cow. 4.Personal Interests and Mind Set : We perceive those things quickly and clearly which are concerned with our interests and mind set. - CONTINUE

36. 5. Acquired Interests : Our acquired interests also determine the object or objects which we perceive. A person who has a hobby of collecting stamps will quickly notice any new stamp on a letter. 6.Needs and Desires : Our needs or desires also modify our perceptions. Besides these our beliefs, opinions and cultural ideals also modify our perception of things, situations and objects.

37. Principles or Laws of Perception

38. 1. Figure Ground Relationship : Whenever we percieve some stimuli, it has figure and at the back of that figure there is a background. It depends whether the person's perception is influenced by figure (in the background) or background (at the back of figure). Here, figure is two faces (dark shaded) on the light background. Examples can be a tree (figure) and sky (background) chapati (figure) and salt (back- ground). Please note a person can't perceive both figure and background at the same time. - COTINUE

39. 2. Principle of Grouping : According to gestalt principle objects can be perceived meaningfully when they are grouped together. The following principles make our perception more meaningful. + Principle of proximity: Proximity means nearness. The objects which are nearer to each other can be perceived meaningfully by grouping them. In Figure we see four sets of four squares each and looks single square. - CONTINUE

40. + Principle of similarity: There is a tendency to perceive objects of a similar size and shape or color as a unit or figure.

41. + Principle of continuity: Any stimulus which extends in the same direction or shape will be perceived as a whole. Our attention is being held more by a continuous pattern rather than discontinuous ones.curved line and a straight line. We do not see a straight line with small semi-circles above and below.

42. + Principle of closure: While confronting an incomplete pattern one tends to complete or close the pattern or fill in sensory gaps and perceive it as a meaningful whole. This type of organization is extremely helpful in making valuable interpretation of various incomplete objects, patterns or stimuli present in our environment. The lines in the Figure may well be perceived as a circle and square. - CONTINUE

43. + Principle of symmetry: Objects having symmetrical shape are perceived as groups.example, brackets of different shapes shown in figure are perceived meaningfully because the symmetrical ones are grouped together.

44. + Principle of Contrast : Perceptual organization is very much affected through contrast effects as the stimuli that are in sharp contrast to nearby stimuli may draw our maximum attention and carry different perceptual affects. For example, in Figure the surrounding circles in the first figure A make the central circle seem larger than the central circle in B even though the two are of the same size. - CONTINUE

45. + Principle of Adaptability : The perceptual organization for some stimuli depends upon the adaptability of the perceiver to perceive similar stimuli. An individual who adapts himself to work before an intense bright light will perceive normal sunlight as quite dim.

46. Errors in Perception Perceptual processes enable an individual to perceive things accurately and facilitate smooth functioning. some errors leading to impaired perceptions These are illusions and hallucinations. 1.illusion : It is a misinterpretation of actual perception. When the interpretation of a particular stimulus goes wrong, it gives rise to a wrong perception or illusion .

47. For example, a rope in the dark is perceived as a snake or vice-versa The voice of an unknown person is mistaker as a friend's voice. A person standing at distance who is not known may be perceived as a known person. + Causes: inadequacies of our sense organs, distance of the object from the sense organ which perceives it, misleading stimuli in the environment, our perceived notions and expectancy. - CONTINUE

48. 2. Hallucination : It is false sensory perception not associated with real external stimuli. It may be visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, gustatory etc. But usually visual and auditory are more commonly experienced. Hallucinations are imaginary perceptions, in which one sees or hears something that is not seen or heard by others around him. Example, An alcoholic person may see 'pink elephant's, a schizophrenic may hear voices, experience foul odors in the absence of any sensory stimulation. Hallucinations are more common in mentally ill people.