Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

4-25-2025

Keywords

attention, cognitive psychology, divided attention, infants, multi-tasking, selective attention, sustained attention

Disciplines

Cognitive Psychology | Developmental Psychology

Abstract

Attention is a particularly tricky concept to study because it encompasses many different aspects. For example, attention can refer to general arousal, such as when someone is experiencing a scary event. Attention also can refer to prioritizing one event over another event, such as paying attention to your friend talking to you, and ignoring a stranger in the background. This type of attention is studied extensively in cognitive psychology. Attention also can refer to multi-tasking, when the focus of your attention is split among different events, such as when you are driving and fiddling with the radio.  This entry provides a brief discussion of these three types of attention: arousal (general heightened physiological state), selective attention (prioritizing some information over other information), and divided attention (multi-tasking).

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