ABSTRACT
Divided attention is also studied by presenting at least two stimulus inputs at the same time, but with instructions that individuals must
Attention is invaluable in everyday life. We use attention to avoid being hit by cars as we cross the road, to search for missing objects, and to perform two tasks at the same time. Psychologists use the term “attention” in several ways. However, attention typically refers to selectivity of processing, as was emphasised by William James (1890, pp. 403 – 404) many years ago:
Attention is . . . the taking into possession of the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalisation, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence.
