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Determinents or Factor of Attention

There are two types of factors that determine attention: external and internal. [1] External factors include the nature, intensity, size, contrast, change, repetition, movement, and duration of a stimulus. Stimuli that are more intense, large, contrasting, changing, repetitive, or moving are more likely to capture attention. [2] Internal or subjective factors include an individual's interests, motives, moods, and attitudes. People are more likely to pay attention to stimuli that align with their interests, fulfill basic needs, or are consistent with their current moods and attitudes. Interest is an especially powerful internal factor, as people are highly attentive to topics they find interesting.

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Suneel Kumar Prajapati
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5K views

Determinents or Factor of Attention

There are two types of factors that determine attention: external and internal. [1] External factors include the nature, intensity, size, contrast, change, repetition, movement, and duration of a stimulus. Stimuli that are more intense, large, contrasting, changing, repetitive, or moving are more likely to capture attention. [2] Internal or subjective factors include an individual's interests, motives, moods, and attitudes. People are more likely to pay attention to stimuli that align with their interests, fulfill basic needs, or are consistent with their current moods and attitudes. Interest is an especially powerful internal factor, as people are highly attentive to topics they find interesting.

Uploaded by

Suneel Kumar Prajapati
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Factors and conditions of attention

Determinants of Attention:
One of two types.

1. External factors or condition

2. Internal factors

I. External Factors or Condition:

These conditions are generally those characteristics of outside situation or stimuli which make
the strongest aid for capturing our attention.

These can be classified as:

1. Nature of the stimulus:

All types of stimuli are not able to bring the same degree of attention. A picture attracts attention
more readily than words. Among the pictures, the pictures of human beings invite more attention
and those of human beings related to beautiful women or handsome men, who attract more
attention.

2. Intensity and size of the stimulus:

In comparison with the weak stimulus, the immense stimulus attracts more attention of an
individual. Our attention become easily directed towards a loud sound, a bright light or a strong
smell, and also a large building will be more readily attended to, than a small one.

3. Contrast, change and variety:

Change and variety strike attention more easily than sameness and absence of change, e.g. we
do not notice the ticking sound of a clock put on the wall until it stops ticking, that is any change
in the attention to which you have been attracted immediately capture your attention. The factor,
contact or change is highly responsible for capturing attention of the organism and contributes
more than the intensity, size or nature of the stimulus.

4. Repetition of stimulus:

Repetition is the factor of great importance in securing attention. Because one may ignore a
stimulus at first instance, but if it is repeated for several times it captures our attention, e.g. a
miss-spelled word is more likely to be noticed, if it occurs twice in the same paragraph than, if it
occurs only once.

5. Movement of the stimulus:

The moving stimulus catches our attention more quickly than a stimulus that does not move. We
are more sensitive to objects that move in our field of vision, e.g. advertisers make use of this
fact and try to catch the attention of people through moving electric lights.
6.Duration and Degree of Attention:

People may possess the ability to grasp a number of objects or in other words, to attend a
number of stimuli in one short “presentation”. This ability of an individual is evaluated in terms of
the span of attention, which differs from person to person and even situation to situation.

II. Internal or Subjective Factors:

These factors predispose the individual to respond to objective factors, to attend to those
activities that fulfill his desires and motives and suit his interest and attitude. It is the mental
state of the perceiver.
1. Interest:

Interest is said to be the mother of attention. We attend to objects in which we have interest. We
would like to watch a movie or a serial in TV because we are interested in the subject around
which the movie or serial revolves. In any get-together if any subject of our interest is discussed
that attracts our attention easily and makes us to participate in the discussion.
2. Motives:

Our basic needs and motives to a great extent, determine our attention, thirst, hunger, sex,
curiosity, fear are some of the important motives that influence attention, e.g. small children get
attracted towards eatables.
4. Moods and attitudes:

What we attend to is influenced by the moods and attitudes. When we are disturbed or in angry
mood, we notice the smallest mistake of others very easily. Likewise our favourable and
unfavourable attitudes also determine our attention.

Thanks❤

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