The Science of Attention: How to Focus and Be More Productive

Question 1 

The study mostly observes the spotlight metaphor, which involves capturing two essential concepts of attention, which is focus and movement. Similarly, the study focuses on eye contact and motion and its effects on capturing human attention (Bockler et al., 2014). This metaphor also entails the issue of space vs. object based selection, and the research entails evaluation of performance between direct contact and motion to capture individual attention. Furthermore, the gaze and averted gaze appealed to attention regardless of being unconnected to the task. 

Question 2 

The experiment's primary manipulated variables were the type of gazes and the condition of the motion used in the research. The type of gaze includes direct versus averted gaze, and the condition of motion includes sudden versus static (Bockler et al., 2014). When the subjects were requested to identify the target letters (S or H) appearing on the face, direct gaze and motion attracted attention in dissimilar ways (Bockler et al., 2014). The primary variables are evidently indicated in the results graphs. 

Question 3 

An example of a direct gaze experience that captured my attention was an advert on a program I was watching. The advert was for a particular villa, and someone was explaining and giving out details about the villa. The beautiful photos on the advert were attractive hence captured my attention. As the person was giving out details, my eyes were focused on the photos but changed eye contact from the photos alternatively and focusing on the speaker. Similarly, the research evidently proves that attention is captured in different ways through eye contact and motion. 

Question 4 

Eye contact and motion particularly capture our attention mainly because they are evolutionarily essential aspects of the environment. They are also an adaptive feature when it comes to capturing attention. Eye gaze and motion mostly correspond due to shifting in attention focus. 

Reference  

Bockler, A., Vanderwel, D. & Welsh, N. (2014). Effects of Social and Nonsocial Cues on Attention Capture. Psychological Science , 720-727.