Caution

Its role

The attention is a factor of the cognitive Efficience, which it is a question of perceiving, to memorize or solve problems. The attentionnelles resources available to a child, depend on the characteristics which are clean for him and the situation in which it is.

Single channel of treatment

The first assumption in cognitive Psychologie was that to describe the data processing like affected with a single channel. Thus several information could not be treated at the same time. This first assumption brought to seek the stage of the data processing posed the problem of such a Bottleneck limiting the capacity in parallel of multiple information.

Cognitive resources

See Leitartikel: Supervisory attentionnel.

In the years 1960, and with the beginning of the year 1970, this assumption was replaced by that of limited attentionnelles resources.

One distinguishes from the automatic processes attentionnels and the conscious and controlled processes attentionnels. The automatic control operates in parallel: several elements can be treated simultaneously. The controlled prospection operates in series: each element is treated successively.

Types of attention

The term of attention recovers various functions, studied in manner relatively independent. One generally divides the study of the attention into three components: of intensity, of selectivity and control.

Intensity

The dimension of intensity refers to the not-specific dimension of the attention, the general state of preparation which allows about treating and to answer a nongiven stimulation in a more or less efficient way. One can bring it closer to the general state of cerebral activation (Arousal in English). It undergoes cyclic variations Circadien born and infracircadiennes. It recovers various elements:

Alarm: the state of alert of a subject corresponds to the mobilization of the intensive dimension of the attention, which makes for example following an instruction or a signal warning signal in a task of experimental psychology. One distinguishes phasic and tonic alarm, in particular according to the duration of mobilization. Phasic alarm corresponds to a short attentionnelle preparation (lasted lower than one second) whereas tonic alarm corresponds to remain prepared for more a long period (more than 15 minutes). In phasic alarm, one distinguishes two concepts in general:
Vigilance: it is about a state of preparation in which the subject must remain mobilized and ready to treat stimulations efficiently, in spite of their weak frequency, over one relatively long period. In this type of tasks, the endogenous component is particularly important. It can for example be asked about monitoring a needle of clock: it should detect a very short acceleration of its race, seldom occurring and in a random way.
Constant attention: that corresponds to the capacity, over one relatively long period, to maintain with a high efficiency the treatment of a series of frequent stimulations . A simple task of detection, carried out over one long period can evaluate the capacity of constant attention.

Selectivity

The dimension of selectivity corresponds to the aptitude to select an element (Stimulus or a perceptive dimension like the Couleur, the Orientation of a line, the vocal Qualité, etc) of a perceptive stimulation in order to carry out a thorough treatment of it. This capacity would be made essential by the limitation of the resources of any system of treatment, associated with the enormous quantity of perceptive information available. It could also apply to an internal representation. This selective attention can bring into play various operations fulfilling the same function. Various assumptions (which all are not incompatible) are constant:

the assumption of the attention like " beam attentionnel" (Posner, 1980) considers that the treatment of the stimuli subjected to this beam will be object appronfondi the treatment, with the detriment of the other stimuli.
In addition to this raising of the treatment of the targets, an inhibition of the stimuli around is sometimes postulated. It seems particularly necessary when these not-relevant stimuli are projecting (i.e. are strongly distinguished from the bottom on which they are present or their neighbors).
the assumption of the " fenestrate attentionnelle" is close to that of the beam attentionnel, but considers more specifically than all external information with this window is not the subject of no treatment and can interfere in a more central treatment…

The problems facilitation/inhibition There exist two periods in the study of the selective attention in psychology:

During the first period, which raised of a traditional design of the selective attention, the accent is put on focusing on the target. The attention will be focused on the target, which will facilitate the attentive treatment and thus will dissipate the distractor.
the second period is a design known as new going back to 1990. According to this design, the attention initially will be focused on the distractor. It is thus necessary to inhibit this distractor in order to remove his influence on the target. In the majority of the cases, it is about an active, conscious, intentional inhibition.

Control

The third dimension of the attention relates to its control . As reference to the executive Functions, it is acted of the capacity efficiently to organize the orientation of the attention towards the various stimuli of a scene, for the realization of an objective.

L'" partagée" attention; is only one phenomenon referring to the simultaneous treatment several information sources. The problem of the attentionnelles resources is then posed. One speaks then about division, of division of the attention.

divided

It is the " capacity to treat two simultaneously or several categories of relevant information, which depends on the state of vigilance and the cognitive processes of control of the attention. On this capacity the reasoning and the resolution of problèmes." depend; Berube Louise

References

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