Abstract
Human beings are constantly bombarded by stimuli from the world in which they live, but can take in and use only a very small portion of this material. There exist, therefore, mechanisms which enable them to select and process stimuli which are valuable, or of interest, and to allow the rest to pass them by. This section will examine this process of selective attention.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Further reading
Matlin, M.W. (1989). Cognition. Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. There is a good comprehensive account of attention in Chapter 2 of this book. It includes accounts of research into the performance of two tasks at the same time, and the influence of practice upon such performance.
Eysenck, M.W. (1984). A Handbook of Cognitive Psychology. Brighton: Psychology Press. A very complete account of attention and performance including practical applications of theory.
Radford, J. and Govier, E. (eds) (1991). A Textbook of Psychology, 2nd edn. London: Routledge. Contains a good account of vigilance and sustained attention.
Eysenck, M.W. (1982). Attention and Arousal: Cognition and Performance. Berlin: Springer Verlag. Contains an account of research into vigilance.
Copyright information
© 1998 Tony Malim and Ann Birch
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Malim, T., Birch, A. (1998). Attention. In: Introductory Psychology. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14186-9_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14186-9_15
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-66852-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-14186-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave Religion & Philosophy CollectionPhilosophy and Religion (R0)