The development of mechanisms of attention and concentration
and their impact on learning at different ages.
ATTENTION PLEASE! Please explain neuroscience!
Since the word “attention” is used in everyday speech, it is easy to miss some of the depths of it’s meaning particularly as it pertains to understanding neurology and the science of thought and memory.
For this essay, I would thus like to combine academic discussion with more familiar jargon and figures of speech. My aim is to equip the reader with a better understanding of the importance of attention and concentration as it applies to neurodevelopment, as well as giving the reader jargon and examples that they may use when conveying similar information to patients and their families. I am inspired by Belsham who attempts to “convey scientific findings in a manner which is both accessible and enjoyable.”(3)
Attention largely refers to an immediate, and short term response, whereas
concentration implies sustaining attention to a particular subject, thought process, task, or social interaction.
Figure 1 – – Layers of meaning of “attention” and “inattention”.
In familiar speech, “not paying attention” can imply being
- unaware
- pre-occupied
- inconsiderate
- careless
- thoughtless
These are hardly desirable attributes for social or occupational functioning!
Someone who is not paying attention to tasks or social interactions may be perceived as being
- “lost in thought”
- “absent minded”
- not “minding their manners”
- “speaking their mind” which usually implies inappropriate comments
- not “mindful of others”
Barkley, explains that individuals with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) offer suffer damaging results in a social and relational context due to such perceptions of the individual’s behaviour (1).
CONCENTRATION PROBLEMS
There may be several reasons why an individual cannot concentrate effectively.
Neurological abnormalities
- Brain damage
- Neurodegenerative diseases
- Post encephalitic disorder
- Seizure disorder
- Medical conditions
- Allergies – asthma, rhinitis
- Certain medications – even an antihistamine can cause drowsiness
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Syndromes
- Sensory defects – hearing and vision
- Psychosocial factors
- Malnutrition/poverty
- Response to physical or sexual or emotional abuse
- Response to inappropriate parenting practices
- Response to inappropriate classroom setting
- Personality traits and disorders
- Intellectual impairment
- Emotional problems, anxiety and depression
- Educational problem
- multiple schools
- poor language skills
- Dimensional factors
- Behaviors that are within the spectrum of normal
- Behaviors are problematic but fall short of meeting the full criteria for diagnosis
Suboptimal concentration can of course be temporarily affected by hunger, strong emotion, fatigue, illness – easily remembered by the acronym HALTS.
H – hungry
A – angry
L – lonely
T – tired
S – sick
I AM FOCUSED! THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Priorities for attention differ widely amongst individuals. One person may focus on the tone of voice, another on the vocabulary, another on the face of the speaker, yet another on the gestures.
Distraction means that the foreground, the aspect of highest priority, the current focus of attention competes with several background stimuli or is re-routed to novel stimuli.
ADHD is characterized by disordered prioritizing of attention and shifting attention between tasks.
Sensory Integration disturbances may mean that an individual either over-registers certain stimuli (tactile-defensiveness) or under-registers, with resultant sensory seeking behavior.
Those with Autistic Spectrum Disorder may hyper-focus on a seemingly irrelevant minor detail.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is characterized by intrusive, involuntary, consuming thoughts about one aspect.
Depression may include symptoms of loss of interest, poor attention to important information and pre-occupation with emotional stimuli.
Anxious patients and those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder may struggle to focus on priority information since the ruminating thoughts about potential threats supersede their efforts to concentrate. Trauma, in a similar manner to anxiety, inhibits optimal focus
To “PAY ATTENTION” is at the “COST” of ignoring other stimuli. It implies a choice or selection of certain aspects and implicitly, a denial or discarding of other aspects.
If a child is paying attention to the television, it is most often at the “expense” of not listening to his parents and the child’s higher thinking – executive functioning EF!
Research by Lilliard et al showed that 10-20minutes of television program with fantasy content resulted in lower EF in 4year olds, relative to other activites (6).
FOREGROUND vs BACKGROUND
The brain is wonderfully designed to be able to filter and prioritize a myriad of stimuli simultaneously, some of it consciously, much of it, unconsciously. In neuroscience it is referred to as selective attention.
As we sit and read and listen, we may be vaguely aware of the stimuli from various senses – the colour of the page, the lay-out, the smell of the coffee nearby, the tightness of the belt around the waist, the emotion that the tight belt evokes, the temperature of the room, the sound of the birds outside and unconsciously, our posture, the position of our joints, our balance. Much of this input will only register in the brain as background information. What we choose to focus on, what grabs our attention, is figuratively, the foreground.
Visual attention and consciousness are separate meaning that learning can occur even when we are not aware that it is taking place and we cannot necessarily recall or report what has been learnt. However, in the study by Meuwese et al, this type of learning seems to lie almost dormant until performance feedback. In other words, optimal learning needs consciousness, not just visual attention (7).
CONCENTRATION AND LEARNING
To concentrate means to intentionally, mindfully, consider and process the priority stimulus. What each person notices, pays attention to, concentrates on, is dependent on a complex interaction of interest, emotion (which may be positive or negative), familiar versus novel information, what appeals to the senses, prior knowledge or experience. Thus the concept of what constitutes “priority of attention” is an in depth discussion of neuroscience and psychology, not for this current essay.
All learning is a process of laying down “tracks” or pathways in the brain. Neuroscience refers to the formation of engrams, an inter-neuronal circuit or pathway that is laid down by synapse formation and protein synthesis. It could be likened to building a road or carving a path.
LEARN – The initial learning of new information or skill is difficult at first, much like walking through the veld without a pathway. Mostly related to short term memory.
REPEAT – Then, with repetition, the path becomes better entrenched in memory, the process gets easier, competence increases, confidence grows and efficiency is improved.
“Working memory” is necessary for both these aspects. This is the ability to keep all the different components in mind while executing the next steps, whilst walking the path. Good working memory means that you would stay “on track”, ignoring detours, and for long enough to reach the target.
Learners benefit most when paying full attention when learning new “tricks”.
STORE – Once the pathway is well established, that action can be performed almost automatically, meaning without much conscious effort. When short term memory is converted to long term memory.
RECALL – Even after a time of not using that particular skill, you are still able to perform it with relative ease.
Some common memory dysfunctions in children include (2):
- Weak registration in short-term memory (generalized or specific visual, verbal or
sequential data)
- Active working memory failure
- Poor consolidation in long term memory (cramming for exams)
- Deficient recall (lost the map, path is over-grown, unclear or forgotten)
AUTO –PILOT LEARNING vs AUTO-PIRATE (What steals concentration?)
Concentration can be disrupted or compromised by external and / or internal stimuli.
External stimuli include input from the senses.
Internal stimuli includes hunger, fatigue, thoughts, and emotion. Interestingly, emotional interference is significant when the level of engagement, level of interest, in a task is low. (Cite pending)
Learning is enhanced when input is:
- multi-sensory
- novel or exciting
- is associated with positive emotion (emotional priming)
- of interest to the individual
- familiar (learned stimulus significance)
Learning is hindered when input is:
- of low appeal
- has minimal immediate “pay off”
- is associated with negative emotion
- competes with more rewarding activity (1).
CONCERT OR CHAOS? FULL CONCERT OR ONLY A CHORUS?
Concentration has a type of “Goldilocks” phenomenon. Too much focus results in hyperfocus at the expense of shutting out other salient information or priorities. Too little focus constitutes inattention. “Just right” is ideal for learning and prioritizing. Just the right amount, on the right subject, at the right time, for the right duration, in the right context.
As important as the quality of concentration, is that of Executive Functioning (EF). Brown likens executive function to that of the role of the conductor in an orchestra (5). The conductor must orchestrate a concert instead of musical instrument cacophony and chaos. Likewise EF must prioritise, integrate and regulate the brain’s cognitive functions (9).
Sustained attention, meaning duration of quality concentration is of particular importance during boring, lengthy, effortful tasks with low immediate reward value. Individuals with this type of attention and concentration deficit are seen to produce good beginnings but poor endings to tasks. They may engage in many tasks but finish few. There may be fierce concentration and enthusiasm in the initial phases of a task but the performance and effort is not maintained. This pattern can severely compromise learning and performance evaluation and cause a demoralizing self concept.
THE COST OF NOT PAYING ATTENTION
In simple terms, inattention will cost one to “miss out” or “mess up”. In addition to the
social dysfunction discussed earlier, inattention means
missing learning opportunities,
misunderstanding, and missing detail.
Or it may have dangerous consequences when inattention fails to alert one to potential danger.
Not everyone with symptoms of inattention has impairments or dysfunction. Interventions must be aimed at preventing dysfunctional outcomes and not symptom control.
A student, young adult and mature adult may have the following categories of dysfunction.
IN SUMMARY
Attention and concentration is a complex process involving neurological as well as psychsocial factors and is quintessential to all aspects of learning throughout the stages of life. From basic neurodevelopment to developing Executive Function, the importance of optimal concentration can be highlighted by observing the opposite effect. The results of poor attention and concentration have a myriad of functional outcomes which vary in type and intensity at different ages.
Let’s not allow miss-understanding to cause us to miss those who need support or allow people to be mistreated or treated as a joke .
Dr Shirley Anne Jourdan
MBBCh (WITS) Family Practitioner
Cert of Comp in ADHD (UFS)
www.chadd.org www.caddra.org
The information presented here is of a general nature and is not intended to be a substitute for professional evaluation and in-depth discussion. Readers should not rely on these comments to make specific decisions. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of its content, the author may not be held responsible for any errors or omissions or ill-effects which may arise from following limited information.
References
- Barkley, R. A., 2006. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Third ed. New York: The Guilford Press.
- Behrman, R., Kliegman, R., Nelson, W. & Vaughan, V., 1992. Nelson Textbook of Paediatrics. 14th ed. Phil: W.B. Saunders.
- Belsham, B. D., 2012. What’s the fuss about ADHD? Johannesburg: Unknown publisher
- Best, C, 2013. The cost of selective attention in category learning: developmental differences between adults and infants. J Exp Child Psychol, 116(2)Oct, pp. 105-19.
- Brown, T., 2006. Executive Functions and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: implications of two conflicting views. International journal of Disability, Development and Education, 53(1), pp. 35-46.
- Lilliard, A., 2015. Further examination of the immediate impact of television on children’s executive function. Developmental Psychology,51(6), pp. 792-805.
- Meuwese, J., 2013. Does perceptual learning require consciousness or attention. Journal of Cogn Neuroscience, Oct, pp. 1579-96.
- Patel, M, 2014. Attention modulates adaptive motor learning in the “broken escalator” paradigm. Exp Brain Res,232(7)Jul, pp. 2349-57.
- Vohs, K., 2004. Handbook of self-regulation. New York: Guilford Press.
- Wright, N., 2015. A critical role for the anterior thalamus in directing attention to task-relevant stimuli. J Neuroscience, 35(14)Apr, pp. 5480-8.