Attention and Selection

The process of remembering can actually be divided into four easy steps: attention and selection, encoding, storage and retrieval.

Attention plays a very important role in memory. In fact the first process of memory is attention. In general, we need to pay attention to information if intend to remember it.

Attention involves focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events.

There is much more information in the environment that can be processed at any one time.

All the senses are absorbing a multitude of information from various sources and al this needs to be processed.

It is also required to control to what to pay attention.

At any one time, the brain is exposed to hundred of messages that need its attention, but it can’t process all these messages at the same time.

A typical environment provides multiple sources of information and stimuli, all provoking a possible response.

If the attention were distributed equally among all stimulus input, life will be utter chaos.

Thus, choice must be made regarding the stimuli to which to be attended. The choices can be conscious and unconscious.

Executive functions of selection are necessary to plan activity and establish priority between multiple competing tasks.
Attention and Selection