POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS

4. Attentional Processes in Positive Psychology

Dr. Maryam Farzand

Attention Defined
• Attention is the ability to actively process specific information in the
environment while tuning out other details.
• It is the concentration of awareness on some phenomenon to the exclusion of
other stimuli.
• In his 1890 book “The Principles of Psychology,” psychologist and philosopher
William James wrote that attention "is the taking possession by the mind, in
clear and vivid form, of one out of what may seem several simultaneously
possible objects or trains of thought…It implies withdrawal from some things in
order to deal effectively with others."
Understanding Attention
• Think of attention as a highlighter. As we read through a section of text in a book,
the highlighted section stands out, causing us to focus our interest in that area.
• It is not just about centering our focus on one particular thing; it also involves
ignoring a great deal of competing information and stimuli.
• Attention allows you to "tune out" information, sensations, and perceptions that
are not relevant at the moment and instead focus our energy on the information
that is important.​
• Not only does our attentional system allow us to focus on something specific in our
environment while tuning out irrelevant details, but it also affects our perception
of the stimuli surrounding us.
The Role of Attention in Learning and Thinking

• Attention is a basic component of our biology, present even at birth.

• Our orienting reflexes help us determine which events in our environment need
to be attended to, a process that aids in our ability to survive.
• Newborns attend to environmental stimuli such as loud noises.
• A touch against the cheek triggers the rooting reflex, causing the infant to turn
his or her head to nurse and receive nourishment.
• These orienting reflexes continue to benefit us throughout life.
• Attention plays a critical role in almost every area of life including school, work,
and relationships.
• It allows people to focus on information in order to create memories.
• It also allows people to avoid distractions so that they can focus on and
complete specific tasks.
• There has been a tremendous amount of research looking at exactly how many
things we can attend to and for how long.
• Key variables that impact our ability to stay on task include how interested we
are in the stimulus and how many distractions there are.
Types of Attention
• There are many different types of attention that people may use. Some of these
include:
1. Sustained Attention
• This form of attention, also known as concentration, is the ability to focus on one
thing for a continuous period.
• During this time, people keep their focus on the task at hand and continue to
engage in a behavior until the task is complete or a certain period of time has
elapsed.
• Research suggests that sustained attention peaks during the early 40s and then
gradually declines as people age.
2. Alternating Attention
• This type of attention involves multitasking or effortlessly shifting
attention between two or more things with different cognitive demands.
• It is not about focusing on more than one thing at the same time, but about
stopping attending to one thing and then switching to the next task.
3. Selective Attention
• Since attention is a limited resource, we have to be selective about what we
decide to focus on.
• Not only must we focus our attention on a specific item in our environment, but
we must also filter out an enormous number of other items.
• Selective attention involves being able to choose and selectively attend to
certain stimuli in the environment while at the same time tuning other things
out.
• For example, you might selectively attend to a book you are reading while
tuning out the sound of your next-door neighbor's car alarm going off.
• This type of attention requires you to be able to tune out extraneous external
stimuli, but also internal distractions such as thoughts and emotions in order to
stay selectively attuned to a task.
4. Focused Attention
• This type of attention involves being able to be suddenly drawn to a specific visual,
auditory, or tactile stimuli such as a loud noise or a flash of light.
• It is a way of responding rapidly to external stimuli, which can be particularly important
in situations where something in the environment requires immediate attention and
quick action.

5. Limited Attention/Divided Attention

• Limited attention, or divided attention, is a form of attention that also involves
multitasking. In this case, however, attention is divided between multiple tasks.
• Rather than shifting focus, people attend to these stimuli at the same time and may
respond simultaneously to multiple demands.
Flow Theory and Concepts
• Flow is a state of mind in which a person becomes fully immersed in an activity.
• Positive psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi describes flow as a state of complete
immersion in an activity.
• Being immersed can be defined as a state of focus in which a person is completely absorbed
and engrossed in their work. While in a flow state, people are highly involved and focused
on what they are doing.
• Flow experiences can occur in different ways for different people. It often happens when we
are doing something that we enjoy and in which we are quite skilled such as creative arts,
painting, drawing, or writing. However, it can also occur while engaging in a sport, such as
skiing, tennis, soccer, dancing, or running.
Benefits of a Flow State
• In addition to making activities more enjoyable, flow also has a number of other
advantages.
1. Emotional Regulation
• With increased flow, people experience growth toward emotional complexity. This can
help people develop skills that allow them to regulate their emotions more effectively.
2. Fulfillment and Happiness
• People in a flow state enjoy what they are doing more. Because the task becomes more
enjoyable, they are also more likely to find it rewarding and fulfilling.
• Research also suggests that flow states may be linked to increased levels of happiness,
satisfaction, and self-actualization.
3. Intrinsic Motivation
• Because flow is a positive mental state, it can help increase motivation.
• Intrinsic motivation involves doing things for internal rewards (how they make you feel) vs.
external rewards (such as prizes or payment).
4. Engagement and Performance
• People in a flow state feel fully involved in the task at hand.
• Researchers have found that flow can enhance performance in a wide variety of areas including
teaching, learning, athletics, and artistic creativity.
5. Learning, Skill Development, and Creativity
• Because the act of achieving flow indicates a substantial mastery of a certain skill, people have to
keep seeking new challenges and information in order to maintain this state.
• Flow states often take place during creative tasks, which can help inspire greater creative and
artistic pursuits.
Characteristics of Flow
• According to Csíkszentmihályi, there are ten factors that accompany the experience of
flow. While many of these components may be present, it is not necessary to
experience all of them for flow to occur:
1. The activity is intrinsically rewarding.
2. There are clear goals that, while challenging, are still attainable.
3. There is a complete focus on the activity itself.
4. People experience feelings of personal control over the situation and the outcome.
5. People have feelings of serenity and a loss of self-consciousness.
6. There is immediate feedback.
7. People know that the task is doable and there is a balance between skill
level and the challenge presented.
8. People experience a lack of awareness of their physical needs.
9. There is strong concentration and focused attention.
10. People experience timelessness, or a distorted sense of time, that
involves feeling so focused on the present that you lose track of time
passing.
How to Achieve Flow
• There are some strategies you can use to help set the stage for entering a flow
state.
Set Clear Goals
• Csíkszentmihályi explains that flow is likely to occur when an individual is faced
with a task that has clear goals that require specific responses.
• A game of chess is a good example of when a flow state might occur.
• For the duration of a competition, the player has very specific goals and
responses, allowing attention to be focused entirely on the game during the
period of play.
Eliminate Distractions
• It's more difficult to experience flow if there are things in your environment competing
for your attention.
• Try reducing distractions so you can fully focus on the task at hand. You might wear
noise-canceling headphones, turn off or put away your phone, and so on.
Add an Element of Challenge
• "Flow also happens when a person's skills are fully involved in overcoming a challenge
that is just about manageable, so it acts as a magnet for learning new skills and
increasing challenges,“
• Csíkszentmihályi explains. "If challenges are too low, one gets back to flow by increasing
them.
• If challenges are too great, one can return to the flow state by learning new skills."
Choose a Pursuit You Enjoy
• You are not likely to achieve flow if you are doing an activity you truly dislike.
• Focus on trying to achieve flow while working on something you love.

It is important to remember that flow is a dynamic and ever-changing state.

As your skill levels increase, you will need to continue to adjust the level of
challenge that is needed to help initiate a state of flow.
The Research on Flow Theory
Sports
• Research began being published in sports journals in 1992. Through repeated empirical studies,
an association between flow and peak performance, especially among elite athletes, has been
found.
• The psychological benefits of flow include “enhanced well-being and self-concept” (Swann,
2016).
Gaming
• Developers and researchers are exploring how to create or improve upon the existing game
design by incorporating the concept of flow theory.
• The primary question is how to increase a player’s enjoyment while simultaneously adding the
appropriate level of challenges
• Another area of interest within gaming research is the possible
relationship between game characteristics, flow, happiness, and addiction.
• Hull, Williams, & Griffiths (2013) found that the social element in many
games is associated with higher levels of addictive-like experiences.
Art
• Flow has been linked to creativity, but not specifically to art therapy.
• Chilton (2013) argues for the need to explore the connection between
flow and art therapy asserting that one of the goals for therapists is to
prepare the client to enter and exit the experience with as little disruption
as possible.
Education
• Csíkszentmihályi has suggested that overlearning a skill or concept can help people experience flow.
• Another critical concept in his theory is the idea of slightly extending oneself beyond one's current
ability level. This slight stretching of one's current skills can help the individual experience flow.
Adventure recreation
• MacKenzie, Hodge, and Boyes (2011) researched the potential connection between Reversal Theory
(RT) and Flow Theory.
• Specifically, they wanted to know if people involved in adventure activities experience telic and
paratelic flow, an RT concept.
• Telic flow is categorized as serious and outcome-oriented whereas paratelic is playful and process-
oriented.
Examples of Flow in Psychology
Some of the examples are:
• A graphic artist creating a website illustration or logo
• A writer completing a 2000-word scene in an hour
• A musician composing a song while commuting to work on a subway
• A skier navigating a challenging downhill course seemingly effortlessly
• The creation of a soufflé by a chef
• Solving a Rubik’s Cube
• A pool player performing trick shots
• A pool player sinking all of their balls before their opponent steps up to shoot
• A student studying for finals wearing noise-canceling headphones
Mindfulness in Positive Psychology
• Mindfulness is a trait or mental state involving intentional focusing of the
attention on an object, like breathing, while observing thoughts, emotions, and
sensations as they emerge in the present moment.
• When used as a noun, mindfulness typically suggests a state of mind: one of
calmness, gratitude, and compassion that can have a profound effect on us.
• When used as a verb, for example, “to be mindful,” it points to entering that
state, practicing a way of being, a moment-by-moment gentle and nurturing
awareness of our emotions, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
• Research backs up anecdotal evidence that obtaining a mindful brain can lead to
a happier and more productive life (Shapiro, 2020; Williams & Penman, 2016).
• Mindfulness itself is beneficial to health in five ways:
1. attention regulation
2. increased body awareness
3. emotional regulation
4. emotional-exposure regulation
5. changes in the perspective of the self
• The practice of mindfulness is used as one of the tools of positive psychology, as
it has been linked to increased positive feelings, a greater sense of coherence,
improved quality of life, greater empathy, greater satisfaction in relationships,
and more hope.
• Mindfulness and positive psychology is that mindfulness increases well-being
and positive mental qualities, including compassion.
• Mindfulness-based meditation has been used in compassion training, which
would result in increased sensitivity to one’s self and others’ needs.
• By being empathetic, we would be more motivated to help others. In return, this
facilitates greater compassion and gives us feelings of joy and satisfaction. In
other words, they create a circle of joy
• Mindfulness training can improve mental activity and change brain connectivity and
bodily processes.
• Its effects are so rapid that even as few as five sessions of practice can lead to
improvements in both the central and autonomic nervous systems, essential for
regulating involuntary bodily functions, processing stress and danger, and the
connection between our brain and our internal organs (Tang, 2018).
• Deeply ingrained in the idea and meaning of mindfulness is the recognition that we are
far from being fixed in who we are—we are ‘neuroplastic.’ This is how neuroscientists
refer to our ability to learn, unlearn, and grow.
• The idea that our brain is constantly changing throughout our lives means that our
sense of happiness, contentment, and meaningful living, can be transformed through
how we experience the present (Shapiro, 2020; Eysenck & Keane, 2015).
• A psychologist named Shauna Shapiro said that mindfulness isn’t just about
paying attention, it is about how we pay attention (Shapiro, 2020, p. 9).
• Shapiro describes the three vital psychological elements of mindfulness as
follows:
1. Intention – how we use our heart as our compass, directing and reflecting our
most profound hopes and values
2. Attention – training and grounding our mind in the present moment
3. Attitude – paying attention with an attitude of compassion and curiosity
• Psychology shows that mindfulness can help us escape the vicious cycle of negative thinking,
allowing us to “step outside the chattering negative self-talk” and our reactive impulses and
emotions (Williams & Penman, 2016, p. 30).
• After all, while we cannot stop the triggering of unhappy or upsetting memories, judgmental
ways of thinking, and the noise of negative self-talk, we can choose what happens next.
• Mindfulness offers a pause, a reset, and an alternate way of seeing ourselves and our
environment by stepping out of ‘doing’ and into ‘being.’
• The mind can do more than merely think, it can be aware of its thinking.
• Such presence or metacognition allows us to experience the world more directly and with less
bias.
• We can look at the world with eyes wide open, with positive emotions such as wonder, awe, and
gratitude that encourage us to enter an upward spiral of positivity (Fredrickson, 2010).
• Mindfulness offers a solution by unconsciously transforming how we think, feel,
and act.
• Mindfulness and meditation can promote sustained reflection on emotions and
thoughts, this can encourage movement away from the bias of dwelling on
negative emotions towards more positive ones to increase an individual’s
experience of them (Lomas, Hefferon, & Ivtzan, 2014).
• Like positive psychology, mindfulness encourages acceptance and awareness
that emotions are often influenced by, and affected upon, bodily sensations,
along with an acknowledgment that even the most painful emotions are
transient, they are distressing effects typically wane or change over time (Lomas
et al., 2014).
Practical Applications of Mindfulness
• Mindfulness is increasingly being combined and incorporated into other psychological
approaches and therapeutic styles across all domains of life.

1. Mindfulness in education
• Research shows that even brief mindfulness exercises have positive and immediate effects on
memory performance (Lloyd et al., 2016).
• Beyond the cognitive benefits, when students were given simple breathing meditation practice,
their blood pressure and heart rate reduced, leaving them in a better position for learning and
being examined (Tang, 2018).
• Mindful communication, speaking and listening with mindfulness; requires that our words
reflect our values and a deeper connection to who we are, which can positively affect education
improving decision-making, focus, and attention.
• Mindfulness has also been found to reduce stereotyping and cross-cultural
misunderstandings, to create a supportive and positive learning environment
and experience (Tang, 2018).

• Adopting mindfulness in educational institutions encourages rational thinking,

intuition, and creativity. When age-appropriate mindfulness exercises and
games were introduced in schools, those least skilled in attention, planning, and
organization were seen to improve the most (Tang, 2018).
2. Mindfulness at work
• Workplace environments are an increasing source of stress and anxiety and may benefit
the most from the positive impact of mindfulness training.
• After all, a non-judgmental, compassionate focus on the present can boost positive
emotions, focus, attention, and imagination, all vital to occupational performance.
• Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Proctor & Gamble, Aetna, Facebook, etc. have
been implementing large-scale mindfulness programs over the past few years. Such
companies have witnessed considerable success such decreased stress, improved
decision-making, greater company loyalty, improved innovation, and boosted productivity.
• An improved attitude, including compassion, kindness, and curiosity, central to
mindfulness; can create an environment of psychological safety more conducive to
teamwork, success, and creativity (Shapiro, 2020).
3. Mindfulness therapy
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) embraces mindfulness techniques, with
considerable success, in treating anxiety and related conditions.
• Through mindfulness, the client is encouraged to adopt a more compassionate acceptance of
harmful or toxic emotions rather than struggle, or fight, against them. Mindful acceptance is an
active, fully conscious, softer stance toward your mind and body and your life experiences, and
it has the power and potential to help you get unstuck and move forward.
• Mindfulness encourage both acceptance and compassion towards internal experiences. It
recognizes that difficult emotions are intrinsically associated with certain situations and events,
and that mindfulness can facilitate new orientations towards them.
• Individuals are encouraged to identify and accept things as they are, rather than reject or deny
their reality, and non-judgementally focus on the present.
Well-being and Positive Psychology
• Well-being is the experience of health, happiness, and prosperity.
• It includes having good mental health, high life satisfaction, a sense of meaning or purpose, and
the ability to manage stress.

Where Does Well-Being Come From?

• Well-being emerges from our thoughts, actions, and experiences most of which we have control
over.
• For example, when we think positively, we tend to have greater emotional well-being.
• When we pursue meaningful relationships, we tend to have better social well-being.
• When we lose our job or hate it, we tend to have lower workplace well-being.
5 Major Types of Well-Being
1. Emotional Well-Being. The ability to practice stress-management and relaxation techniques, be
resilient, boost self-love, and generate the emotions that lead to good feelings.
2. Physical Well-Being. The ability to improve the functioning of your body through healthy living
and good exercise habits.
3. Social Well-Being. The ability to communicate, develop meaningful relationships with others,
and maintain a support network that helps you overcome loneliness.
4. Workplace Well-Being. The ability to pursue your interests, values, and life purpose in order to
gain meaning, happiness, and enrichment professionally.
5. Societal Well-Being. The ability to actively participate in a thriving community, culture, and
environment.
• To build your overall well-being, you have to make sure all of these types are functioning
to an extent.
• Positive psychology is focused on how virtues, strengths, and skills can help individuals
and communities thrive and flourish. It involves topics, such as meaning, mindset,
happiness, gratitude, and compassion, that can play a role in wellbeing and a
meaningful, good life.
• Subjective Well-being (SWB) falls under one of the three basic orientations that
facilitate wellbeing (Seligman & Royzman, 2003):
1. The pleasant life – a hedonic orientation concerned with positive affective
experiences.
2. The meaningful life – a eudaimonic orientation that focuses on working toward a
higher purpose.
3. The engaged life – engagement with flow-eliciting activities (a psychological wellbeing
orientation).