Four Different Types of Attention

We live in an increasingly busy world, with many sources of

information and stimulation competing for our attention. This means
that getting to grips with different types of attention is critical when it
comes to understanding human behaviour and performing optimally.

But how and why are we attentive in the first place? Let’s discuss
what attention is, and expand on four different types of attention and
why they’re important.

What is attention?

In the article “How Psychologists Define Attention“, it is defined as the

following:

“Attention allows you to ‘tune out’ information, sensations, and

perceptions that are not relevant at the moment and instead focus your
energy on the information that’s important.”

Therefore, it can be defined as the act of focusing on a specific object,

person or activity in our immediate environment at the expense of other
objects or information. As such, our attention is always biased. Our
attention spans are not always the same throughout our lives. We only
have to look at how a child develops to understand that we learn to
focus as we grow.

As adults, we can choose to focus in different ways. Understanding

human behaviour and different types of attention can help us to learn
and better interact with others.

Four different types of attention

There are four different types of attention that we’ll define: sustained,
divided, selective and executive. These are not the only types, but we’ll
also elaborate on why understanding each of these is so important.

1. Sustained Attention
Sustained attention means focusing on a person, task or activity for a
certain time or until the relevant conversation, task or activity is
complete. For example, we learn to hone this type of attention at school
by engaging with fellow learners and teachers. Another example is when
we learn through studying and writing tests and exams.

Another related type is known as focused attention, which involves

being able to rapidly respond to external stimuli, such as loud noises. As
you can imagine, this forms an important part of being able to survive
and respond to changes in your environment.

2. Divided Attention

This involves trying to focus on many different conversations, tasks and

activities at the same time, also known as multitasking. Although a
common practice, it’s rarely effective, as we only have so much energy
to devote to each task.

Related to this is alternating attention. It is similar to multitasking, but

involves seamlessly moving from one task to another, instead of dividing
your focus.

3. Selective Attention

Selective attention involves being able to focus on a specific task while

simultaneously being able to block out any background noise or stimuli.
This can be a difficult skill to master, depending on your level of
sensitivity, but is a valuable tool in being able to function in a noisy
world!

One example includes being able to read a book while there is loud
background noise around you. However, it can also refer to not engaging
with inner stimuli such as thoughts.

4. Executive Attention

Executive attention is similar to selective attention, as it involves being

able to block out distractions and focus on a specific task. However, the
difference is that this way of focusing also involves ruthless prioritisation
and only focusing on activities that will help to achieve a certain goal.

For example, the managing director of a company can’t attend to

everything that is going on, but they can block out all the hundreds of
emails they receive and devote themselves to completing the critical
tasks of the day.

Why is understanding attention important?

We’ve covered four types of attention and touched on some related

ones. This will have given you some insight into the different ways we
process information and engage with our environment.

But how is understanding these relevant to our daily lives? In the field of
Applied Psychology, this knowledge can help us to ascertain what skills
we need to learn, and how to function optimally in both social and
business environments.

For example, multitasking might work in certain situations, where the

tasks are not crucial or time-bound. But, if you are trying to multitask in
a demanding work role, you might find yourself becoming thoroughly
overwhelmed. To counter this, you can then learn more about how to
hone your sustained and executive attention skills.