The environment plays a critical role in defining how we respond to stimuli. Recently, I was part of a seminar that discussed a wide range of issues that I found to be remarkably interesting. After the seminar, we were required to participate in a discussion in which we were to share the issues that we found to be most outstanding. Despite being present for all the sessions, I was unable to remember much of what had been discussed. After some reflection, I now understand that my inability to recollect is concerned with attention. I was seated next to a man who was playing a video game on his laptop. I found the game to be distracting and I believe that it is to blame for my inability to remain attentive.
In their discussion on stimulation and perception, Schacter and his colleagues identify attention as among the issues which influence perception. They give particular focus to the issue of divided attention. These scholars note that when one is confronted with multiple sources of stimuli, it is nearly impossible for them to dedicate their entire attention to any single stimuli (Schacter et al., 2017). They add that divided attention affects memory. This is certainly true in my case. I had to divide my attention between the video game and the seminar. As a result of the divided attention, I was unable to recollect the issues addressed in the seminar. I believe that my perception would be different under different circumstances. For example, in the absence of the man and his video game, I am confident that I would be able to recollect events from the seminar. The key take-away from my experience is that there are certain tasks that demand all of one’s attention. When one fails to dedicate full attention to important issues, they suffer memory lapses and total amnesia.
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References
Schacter, D., Gilbert, D., Nock, M., & Wegner, D. (2017). Psychology.
Austin, TX: Macmillan Learning.
