Selective Attention

Definition

Selective attention is our ability to focus on one particular task or stimulus among many competing stimuli.

Related terms

Inattentional Blindness:

Inattentional blindness occurs when an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight because their attention was engaged with something else.

Change Blindness:

Change blindness is failing to notice changes in visual stimuli because our selective attention was elsewhere during the change.

Filter Theory (Broadbent’s Filter Model): Filter theory, also known as Broadbent’s filter model, suggests that information enters through a filter that differentiates between attended stimulus and unattended stimulus based on physical properties.