Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, extra MCQs, PDF for Attention and Interest: NBSE Class 12 Education, which is part of the syllabus for students studying under NBSE (Nagaland Board). These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
Summary
Attention is the mind’s ability to focus on one thing among many. Imagine you are at a football game. You are watching a friend play, talking to your roommate, and hearing others talk. A child behind you is kicking your seat. All these things compete for your focus. Attention is the process of choosing which one to notice. It is often compared to a spotlight on a dark stage. The object in the spotlight is seen very clearly. Everything else is in the dark and seen dimly. Our attention works like this spotlight.
Attention is selective, meaning we can usually only focus on one thing at a time. It also shifts constantly from one thing to another. We cannot fix our focus on a single object for a very long time. Attention is a conscious process with a focal point, which is what we are directly thinking about. Everything else is in the margin of our awareness. Paying attention also involves physical adjustments. We might turn our head or sit up straight to concentrate better.
There are different kinds of attention. Voluntary attention is when we choose to focus on something with effort. Involuntary attention is when something grabs our focus without our control, like a sudden loud noise. Habitual attention is when we focus on something out of habit, like a doctor attending to a patient. Many outside factors capture our attention. These include the size of an object, its movement, or if it is new and different. Repetition and contrast also make things more noticeable.
Interest is the feeling of wanting to know or learn about something. It is what makes certain things matter to us. Interest and attention are very closely linked. Interest is often called the mother of attention because we naturally pay attention to the things we find interesting. While attention is the action of focusing, interest is the feeling that makes us want to focus. Some interests are natural, while others are learned over time from our experiences.
Our interests can develop and change throughout our lives. They are shaped by personal factors like our age and feelings, and by our environment, such as our family and school. There are two main types of interest. Intrinsic interest is when you like an activity for its own sake, like an artist who loves to paint. Extrinsic interest is when you do an activity to get a reward, like exercising to achieve a specific goal.
In education, a student’s interest is very valuable. When students are interested in a lesson, they will pay attention. Teachers can make learning more engaging by setting clear goals and using different activities and teaching aids like pictures. They can also make lessons appealing by connecting new information to what students already know. When a student is interested, they are ready to learn, and their attention follows naturally.
Textual
Very Short Answer Questions
1. Define attention?
Answer: Attention may be likened to a spotlight on a darkened stage which moves about and brings into focus any part of it. The object on which the spotlight falls becomes clearly visible, but other objects are seen dimly. Attention is like this spotlight; on whatever object we focus our attention, we perceive that object very clearly.
2. What are the various levels involved in the process of Attention?
Answer: The process of attention consists of five levels.
- Sensory level: It begins attention. Only information of certain form will activate our sensory system. Though thousands of stimuli are sensed but only few are selected, according to our interest, etc.
- The selected information is organised even at the earliest stage of processing, depending upon the strength of the input and bias of the processor.
- After sensory processing, the information activates elements of LTM (Long Term Memory), the repository of knowledge and in combination of these sources determine the perception.
- They are selected and chosen for further processing and enter into consciousness.
- We may attend to several of these precepts at once which can be responded to overtly or stored in LTM.
3. Differentiate between voluntary and involuntary attention.
Answer: Voluntary attention is when attention is paid because we want to attend to something, make an effort to do so, and attend with willpower. It is called voluntary because it involves the use of one’s own willpower, which is directed towards an idea or object. It is also known as active attention because it depends on one’s own choice, and we are kept mentally and physically alert towards the objects of attention.
In contrast, involuntary attention is when attention is forced upon us due to a stimulus or sensation. This means there was no readiness or will to attend to that particular event, but the strength of the stimulus forces us to attend. It is also called spontaneous attention because it is given all of a sudden with no will or effort involved.
Short Answer Questions
1. How is size and location of stimuli matters in attaining attention?
Answer: The size of a stimulus affects attention because a large building will be more readily noticeable than a small one. Hence, the larger the size of a thing, the more likely one notices it. It has been researched that by doubling the size of an object, 40 to 50% more attention can be achieved.
The location of a stimulus also matters. If the stimulus is too far, it is likely that it may not attract attention, but if it is too near or its proximity is close, it is likely to be given more attention. It has also been found that anything in a centre always gets more attention. For instance, even a small picture placed in the middle of a printed page is likely to draw attention. The upper half and the left half of objects get more attention than the lower half and right side of the object.
2. What are the characteristics of interest?
Answer: The nature and characteristics of interest are as follows:
- Our interest is very much linked with our wants, motives, drives, and basic needs.
- Interest is a great motivating or affective behaviour.
- Interest and attention are closely related to each other. McDougall writes, Interest is latent attention and attention is interest in action. Interest is the mother of attention. We attend to those objects in which we are interested, and thus interest prepares us mentally to pay attention towards an object, person or a thing. While attention always implies the activity, what we have in our mental structure in the form of an interest is given practical shape in the form of some activity, i.e., making one attend.
- Interests are innate as well as acquired dispositions.
- Interest is the personal meaning that a thing has for us. This meaning colours all the aspects of our vision. Interested in a thing, we interpret everything in line with the interest.
- Pursuit of one’s interest is always satisfying. It helps an individual to realise the goals and aims set by him.
- Interest helps in overcoming unusual or early arrival or frequent repetition of plateaus in learning. They also give sufficient strength to an individual to resist fatigue and avoid failure.
- Interests and attitudes have close similarity as both represent mental readiness for a particular behavioural pattern, yet there is a clear-cut distinction. The individual usually likes the things in which he/she is interested and actively seeks them. Attitudes, on the other hand, may orient an individual either favourably or unfavourably towards certain objects, places, or ideas, and are comparatively passive. A person may possess attitudes but may do nothing about them.
- Interests are not permanent and fixed. They get changed as a result of maturation, learning, and other internal as well as environmental conditions and factors.
3. Why are Interests not permanent and fixed?
Answer: Interests are not permanent and fixed because they get changed as a result of maturation, learning, and other internal as well as environmental conditions and factors. As one grows older, one’s instinctive urges get developed and modified, which depends on many environmental factors. As a result, interests do not remain innate or inherited qualities but get changed into acquired tendencies or characteristics.
Moreover, as we grow older, instinctive behaviour gives birth to sentiments and complexes, which in turn bring ideals and purposes in life. Our attitudes, temperament, and other personality traits also begin to influence our interest patterns. New interests are developed or acquired by us as we strive for ideals and achieving something in our life. Therefore, interests are not purely inborn or inherited but are actually acquired dispositions resulting from the constant interaction between the instinctive behaviour of the organism and the peculiar environmental forces.
4. Describe the characteristics of attention in brief.
Answer: The characteristics of attention are:
- Conscious process: The process of attention divides the field of consciousness into a focal point and a margin. At any moment, the field of consciousness is centred on a particular object, called the focal point of attention.
- Selectivity: The fundamental fact regarding attention is that only one thing can be attended to at a time. Humans selectively attend to only some of the cues and tune out much of the rest.
- Shifting: It is not possible to keep attention fixed on exactly the same object for more than a few seconds at a time. Attention tends to shift quickly from one object to another.
- Attention is an act, a process, a function not any power or faculty.
- Attention is also a motivational process because our attention is selective and it depends upon our needs, interests, attitudes, and voluntary actions.
- Attention as Perceptive Attitude: It is a reaction of expectancy or anticipatory perceptual adjustment. It is also considered a form of set, which contributes or interferes with perceptual or motor responses. This includes receptor set, muscular set, mental set, and postural set.
- Purposiveness: Every object attended to, any event concentrated upon, or any work looked after has a degree of purposiveness or goal-oriented behaviour. Without any purpose or goal, we don’t attend.
5. How can you say that Environmental forces are responsible for interest?
Answer: I can say that environmental forces are responsible for interest because as a person grows older, their instinctive urges get developed and modified. The manner and extent to which these urges develop depend on many environmental factors. These environmental forces are responsible for giving a particular shape to the inborn or innate urges and basic drives. As a result, interests do not remain innate or inherited qualities but change into acquired tendencies or characteristics. Interests are the result of a constant interaction between the instinctive behaviour of the organism and the peculiar environmental forces. Both internal personal factors and external or environmental factors affect the interest patterns of an individual in the course of his growth and development.
6. how can you say that ‘attention is a conscious process’?
Answer: I can say that attention is a conscious process because consciousness is the awareness of internal and external information. The process of attention divides the field of attention into a focal point and a margin. At any moment, the field of consciousness is centered on a particular object, which is called the focal point of attention. For example, if a teacher is drawing a diagram on the blackboard, this diagram is in the focus of his consciousness because all of his attention is on it. Things fading away from this center of consciousness belong to the margin of consciousness.
7. Define attention. Give brief details of its characteristics.
Answer: According to William James, attention is taking possession of the mind in clear, vivid form of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought.
The characteristics of attention are:
- Conscious process: The process of attention divides the field of consciousness into a focal point and a margin. At any moment, the field of consciousness is centred on a particular object, called the focal point of attention.
- Selectivity: The fundamental fact regarding attention is that only one thing can be attended to at a time. Humans selectively attend to only some of the cues and tune out much of the rest.
- Shifting: It is not possible to keep attention fixed on exactly the same object for more than a few seconds at a time. Attention tends to shift quickly from one object to another.
- Attention is an act, a process, a function not any power or faculty.
- Attention is also a motivational process because our attention is selective and it depends upon our needs, interests, attitudes, and voluntary actions.
- Attention as Perceptive Attitude: It is a reaction of expectancy or anticipatory perceptual adjustment. It is also considered a form of set, which contributes or interferes with perceptual or motor responses. This includes receptor set, muscular set, mental set, and postural set.
- Purposiveness: Every object attended to, any event concentrated upon, or any work looked after has a degree of purposiveness or goal-oriented behaviour. Without any purpose or goal, we don’t attend.
Long Answer Questions
1. ‘Attention involves a great variety of adjustment’. Justify the statement.
Answer: Attention involves a variety of adjustments which favours the concentration of attention on some objects or material. Munn points out four common adjustments involved in the very act of attention:
(i) Receptor adjustment: The head and eyes turn toward the object to be observed and there is either a continued fixation or a scanning process.
(ii) General postural adjustment: During reading, for instance one sits up and directs vision towards the book which is being read.
(iii) Muscle tension: A person is aware of muscle tension or related feeling of effort, particularly when attention has to be directed for a long time.
(iv) The act of attention is characterised by increased clearness in whatever may be attended to.
2. What are the various levels involved in the process of Attention?
Answer: The process of attention consists of five levels.
- Sensory level: It begins attention. Only information of certain form will activate our sensory system. Though thousands of stimuli are sensed but only few are selected, according to our interest, etc.
- The selected information is organised even at the earliest stage of processing, depending upon the strength of the input and bias of the processor.
- After sensory processing, the information activates elements of LTM (Long Term Memory), the repository of knowledge and in combination of these sources determine the perception.
- They are selected and chosen for further processing and enter into consciousness.
- We may attend to several of these precepts at once which can be responded to overtly or stored in LTM.
3. What is involuntary attention? How is it different from voluntary attention?
Answer: Involuntary attention is when attention is forced upon due to stimuli or sensation. It simply means that there was no readiness or will to attend to that particular event but the strength of the stimulus which impinges on the sensory system forces us to attend. This is also called spontaneous attention because attention is given all of a sudden with no will or effort involved. This usually happens whenever there is a glaring light or a high pitched band playing nearby.
This is different from voluntary attention. Whenever attention is paid because we want to attend to it, we make an effort to do so, and we attend with will power, it is known as voluntary attention. Voluntary attention means the use of one’s own will power, which is directed towards an idea or object. It is also known as active attention because it depends on your own choice and we are kept alert mentally and physically towards the objects of attention.
4. What is the impact of novelty of stimulus in attention?
Answer: Novelty or newness attracts attention. We are compelled to attend to anything that is new or different, so it is better to introduce change or bring novelty to break the monotony and secure attention. Objects different from the type we are accustomed to see are readily noticed. We do not pay any attention to household furniture because they are too familiar but a new arrangement is readily noticed.
5. What is the difference between interest and attitude?
Answer: Interests and attitudes have a close similarity on the ground that both represent mental readiness or preparation for a particular behavioural pattern, yet there is a clear-cut distinction between the two. The individual usually likes the things in which he/she is interested and the thing that interests is also sought. Attitudes on the other hand, may orient an individual either favourably or unfavourably towards certain objects, places, ideas, etc. Also they are comparatively passive. A person may possess attitudes but may do nothing about them.
6. How are the instinctive drives helpful?
Answer: Instinctive drives are helpful as our innate or inborn tendencies are basically responsible for our peculiar interests. We are interested in such things which give satisfaction to our innate desires and urges. From early childhood, it can be seen that instinctive drives like curiosity, constructiveness, acquisitions, and self-assertion play a great role in making children interested in one thing or the other. The interests of children are controlled and guided by their instincts. Therefore, a wise teacher can exploit basics like curiosity, constructiveness, and acquisition to make students interested in a learning activity.
7. Describe the types of interest.
Answer: Interests may be of various types and nature, depending upon the types of activities, work areas, and behaviour patterns being performed. Examples include Academic interests, Professional or occupational interests, Mechanical interests, Social and cultural interests, Artistic interests, Musical interests, Literary interests, Dramatic interests, and Scientific or Inventive interests.
All such types and varieties of interests may be broadly grouped into the following two types:
- Intrinsic or Natural interests: There is a quite natural and spontaneous flow in this type of interest. Here one engages in the activities and behaviour patterns of his likings or interests on account of his inner drives, inclinations and motives. There is no external source or force compelling one to engage in such type of acts or behaviours. Examples include the interests shown by artists in their artistic pursuits, scientists in their experiments and innovations, and writers in their own creations.
- Extrinsic or Artificial interests: This type of interest is governed by some or the other type of external means, drives, incentives, motives, and goals. Here one becomes interested in a particular activity or area on account of some definite purpose served through it. As soon as the purpose is served or goal is achieved, the related interest is automatically diminished or altogether abandoned. For example, a fatty girl interested in her early marriage may be inclined to engage herself in weight reducing physical or yogic exercises. However, as and when she gets married, she may altogether stop taking interest in those weight reducing activities.
8. How can attitude and interest be inseparable in education?
Answer: In education, attitude and interest are inseparable because they are closely linked and mutually influence each other in the learning process. Interests and attitudes both represent a mental readiness or preparation for a particular behavioural pattern.
A person’s attitudes influence their interest patterns. In an educational setting, a teacher’s positive attitude, shown through love and affection for the subject and the students, along with enthusiasm and sincerity, helps make students attentive. Since attention is interest in action, the teacher’s attitude directly helps in arousing and maintaining the interest of the pupils in a learning activity. A teacher with proper behaviour and personality traits, which are expressions of their attitude, can motivate and inspire students, making them interested in the teaching.
Similarly, a student’s own attitude towards a subject or learning orients them favourably or unfavourably towards it, which in turn affects their interest. The development of interest in a child is affected by personal factors, which include their own attitudes. Acquired interests depend on experience, and a positive learning experience, shaped by the attitudes of both the teacher and the student, can lead to the development of new interests. Therefore, in the process of education, a positive attitude is essential for creating and sustaining interest, making the two inseparable for effective learning.
Additional
Extra Questions and Answers
1. How does William James define ‘attention’?
Answer: According to William James, attention is taking possession of the mind in a clear, vivid form of one out of what seem to be several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought.
52. Provide a detailed account of the factors affecting attention, distinguishing clearly between the external (objective) and internal (subjective) factors.
Answer: Attention is determined or influenced by many external factors, also known as objective factors, and by conditions within the individual, known as subjective factors.
External or objective factors are generally those characteristics of the situations or stimuli which make the strongest bid to capture our attention. These include:
(i) Nature of the stimulus: A picture attracts attention more readily than words. Coloured pictures are more forceful than black and white ones, and pictures of known personalities attract attention sooner than those of ordinary people.
(ii) Intensity of the stimulus: A strong, sharp, or intense stimulus, such as a loud noise, a bright light, or a strong smell, will attract attention more readily than a weak one.
(iii) Change in the stimulus: We are more likely to notice a changing stimulus than an unchanging one, especially if the change is sudden and not gradual. This change can be in motion, quality, intensity, or size.
(iv) Size of the stimulus (extensity): A large building is more noticeable than a small one. It has been researched that doubling the size of an object can achieve 40 to 50% more attention.
(v) Location of the stimulus: A stimulus that is too far away may not attract attention, but one that is nearby is likely to be given more attention. Anything in the centre of a printed page is likely to draw attention, and the upper and left halves of objects get more attention than the lower and right halves.
(vi) Novelty of the stimulus: We are compelled to attend to anything new or different. Introducing change or novelty helps to break monotony and secure attention.
(vii) Contrast in the stimulus: A lean and thin fellow in the company of a big stout man is attended to very soon because of the contrast. Contrast occurs when there is a difference in two stimuli in terms of shape, size, or form.
(viii) Repetition of the stimulus: A stimulus may be ignored the first time, but when it is repeated several times, it captures our attention. This is why advertisements on television are often repeated.
(ix) Movement of the stimulus: A moving stimulus catches our attention more quickly than one which is still. Advertisers often use moving electric lights to capture attention.
(x) Meaningfulness of the stimulus: A stimulus that holds some meaning or importance to us gains attention, while we are not aware of objects that are useless to us.
Internal or subjective factors are conditions within the individual that influence attention. Attention is a motivational process because it is selective and depends upon our internal states. These factors include our needs, interests, attitudes, and voluntary actions. They also include our wants, motives, drives, and basic needs. Our own will power, choice, aims, and mental set are also crucial internal factors. For example, a mother’s mental set makes her hear the cry of her baby. These internal conditions determine what we choose to focus on from the many stimuli in our environment.
Extra MCQs: Knowledge-Based
1: Who defined attention as “taking possession of the mind in clear, vivid form of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought”?
A. Woodworth
B. William James
C. Stout
D. McBurney and Collins
Answer: B. William James
27: The type of interest that has a natural and spontaneous flow, based on inner drives and motives, is known as __________ interest.
A. artificial
B. extrinsic
C. learned
D. intrinsic
Answer: D. intrinsic
Extra MCQs: Competency-Based
28: Focal Point : Clear Perception :: Margin : __________
A. Vivid Thought
B. Obscure Perception
C. Selective Response
D. Intense Stimulus
Answer: B. Obscure Perception
54: A mother is in a noisy room full of people talking, but she immediately hears the faint cry of her baby from another room. This is given as an example of which concept?
A. Receptor set
B. Muscular set
C. Span of attention
D. Mental set
Answer: D. Mental set
Get notes of other classes and subjects