ABSTRACT
Close to the last turn of a century, William James (1890/1950) suggested that ‘my experience is what I agree to attend to’ (p. 402). His treatment of attention therefore linked it closely to consciousness. In his view, attention was ‘the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others’ (pp. 403–404).
