Selective Attention

Often times I feel myself zoning out and losing focus of what is occurring around me. I sometimes block parts of the environment from my awareness or don’t hear a story my roommate tells me while checking Facebook on the computer. However, when hearing my name from a distance, I can automatically switch gears and will listen to what is being said. The reason for this is selective attention. When on the mound during a softball game, I selectively pay attention to the pitch I am about the throw and how I’m going to go about that pitch. I process information from one part of the environment and exclude all the other parts. I don’t notice the conversations happening on the bench or realize that my mom is on the phone while eating a pretzel. I also don’t notice my shoes pressing against my feet or the glove enclosing my hand unless I shift my attention and think about it. At my Nassau County championship softball game last spring, my best friends came to the game with my last name written on their stomachs and their bodies covered in paint. They chanted and screamed really loud with every pitch, yet I didn’t notice. On the mound, I had the ability to block out their screaming and cheering and to simply focus on the pitch that needed to be thrown. I didn’t hear them screaming nor the other occurrences in the background. Selective attention is a psychological concept where a person has the ability to focus on one thing when there are numerous things occurring simultaneously. The degree of selective attention varies depending on the person, especially with those that have low attention levels due to certain learning disorders, such as ADD. Selective attention allows you to purposely focus your conscious awareness on a specific stimulus. For example, while sitting here writing this paper, I have not realized that the air conditioner is making a loud whistling noise or that my nose is in line with my vision. But, upon writing this, my focus has shifted and the air