When something is emotionally riveting, furthermore, we can get lost it. If somebody was to try and get our attention in such a moment, we might not even notice the stimuli meant for us, and perceived by our subconscious.
Evidence suggests that attention can concurrently isolate multiple locations for focus. Still not clear, however, is if this ability depends on continuous allocation of attention to the different targets, referred to as a "parallel" strategy, or if attention changes rapidly between the targets, known as a temporal "sampling" strategy. but, either way, both techniques can explain the "set size effects," whereby, with each additional attended item, cognitive attention and performance decreases.
William James wrote of attention in his textbook, Principles of Psychology: (Broadbent 190)
"Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed and scatterbrained state which in French is called distraction, and Zerstreutheit in German."
The...
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