Attention
behavioral and cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a discrete aspect of information, whether deemed subjective or objective, while ignoring other perceivable information
Attention is the concentration of awareness directed at some task or phenomenon while mostly excluding others.
Across disciplines, the nature of this directedness is conceptualized in different ways. In cognitive psychology, attention is often described as the allocation of limited cognitive processing resources to a subset of information, thoughts, or tasks. In neuropsychology, attention is understood as a set of mechanisms by which sensory cues and internal goals modulate neuronal tuning and orient behavioral and cognitive processes.
Attention is not a unitary phenomenon but an umbrella term for multiple related processes, including selective attention (prioritizing some stimuli over others), sustained attention (maintaining focus), divided attention (sharing resources across tasks), and orienting (shifting focus in space or time). These processes are supported by distributed neural networks in frontal, parietal, and subcortical regions and are closely linked to working memory, executive functions, and consciousness.
Patterns of attention also vary across cultures, especially in how individuals attend to context versus focal objects and how children are guided to manage attention in everyday activities.
History
16th century
John B. Watson called Juan Luis Vives the father of modern psychology. In his book De Anima et Vita, Vives argued that the more closely one attends to stimuli, the better they are retained in memory.
17th century
Daniel E. Berlyne credited the first extended treatment of attention to Nicolas Malebranche, for whom attention is necessary "to keep our perceptions from being confused and imperfect".
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