PSY493H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Global Brain, Dazed, Attentional Control
Document Summary
Chapter 7. 1 (selective attention and the anatomy of. Selective attention is the ability to focus awareness on one stimulus, thought, or action while ignoring other, irrelevant stimuli, thoughts, and actions. Arousal is a global physiological and psychological brain state, whereas selective attention describes what we attend and ignore within any specific level (high versus low) of arousal. Specific networks for the control of attention include cortical and subcortical structures. Attention influences how we process sensory inputs, store that information in memory, process it semantically, and act on it. Focalization: concentration of consciousness are of attention"s essence. 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, scatterbrain state. James insightfully captured key characteristics of attentional phenomena that are under investigation today. It is the taking possession by the mind suggests that we can choose the focus of attention; that is, it can be voluntary.
