Attention span is the amount of time spent concentrating on a task before becoming distracted. Distractibility occurs when attention is uncontrollably diverted to another activity or sensation. Most educators and psychologists agree that the ability to focus and sustain attention is crucial for a person to achieve their goals. Attention training is said to be part of education, particularly in the way students are trained to remain focused on a topic of observation or discussion for extended periods, developing listening and analytical skills in the process.
Human Attention Span Over Time
Estimates for the length of the human attention span are subject to high variability and depend on the precise definition of attention being used.
Transient attention is a short-term response to a stimulus that temporarily attracts/distracts attention. Researchers disagree on the exact amount of the human transient attention span.
Selective sustained attention, also known as focused attention, is the level of attention that produces consistent results on a task over time. Common estimates of the attention span of healthy teenagers and adults range from 10 to 20 minutes; however, there is no empirical evidence for this estimate. People can choose repeatedly to re-focus on the same thing. This ability to renew attention permits people to 'pay attention' to things that last for more than a few minutes, such as lengthy films.
Older children are capable of longer periods of attention than younger children. An account, for instance, cited that the average attention span in children is: 7 minutes for 2-year-olds; 9 minutes for 3-year-olds; 12 minutes for 4-year-olds; and, 14 minutes for 5-year-olds. For time-on-task measurements, the type of activity used in the test affects the results, as people are generally capable of a longer attention span when they are doing something that they find enjoyable or intrinsically motivating. Attention is also increased if the person is able to perform the task fluently, compared to a person who has difficulty performing the task, or to the same person when he or she is just learning the task. Fatigue, hunger, noise, and emotional stress reduce the time focused on the task. Common estimates for sustained attention to a freely chosen task range from about 5 minutes for a two-year-old child, to a maximum of around 20 minutes in older children and adults. After losing attention from a topic, a person may restore it by resting, doing a different kind of activity, changing mental focus, or deliberately choosing to re-focus on the first topic. In a research study that consisted of 10,430 male and females ages 10 to 70, observed sustained attention time across a lifespan. The study required participants to use a cognitive testing website where data was gathered for seven months. The data collected from the study concluded that attention span is not a one singular linear equation, at age 15 is it recorded that attention span related abilities diverge. Over the course of the study, collected evidence additionally found that attention span peaks in a humans early 40’s then gradually declines in old age.
Measurement
Many different tests on attention span have been used in different populations and in different times. Some tests measure short-term, focused attention abilities, and others provide information about how easily distracted the test-taker is. Tests like the DeGangi's Test of Attention in Infants and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV are commonly used to test for attention-related issues in young children when interviews and observations are inadequate. Older tests, like the Continuous Performance Test and the Porteus Maze Test, have been rejected by some experts. These tests are typically criticized as not actually measuring attention, being inappropriate for some populations, or not providing clinically useful information. Variability in test scores can be produced by small changes in the testing environment. For example, test-takers will usually remain on task for longer periods of time if the examiner is visibly present in the room than if the examiner is absent.
Research
In an early study of the influence of temperament on attention span, the mothers of 232 pairs of twins were interviewed periodically about the similarities and differences in behavior displayed by their twins during infancy and early childhood. The results showed that each of the behavioral variables had a significant inverse relationship with attention span. In other words, the twin with longer attention span was better able to remain absorbed in a particular activity without distraction, and was also the less temperamental twin. One study of 2600 children found that early exposure to television is associated with later attention problems such as inattention, impulsiveness, disorganization, and distractibility at age seven. This correlational study does not specify whether viewing television increases attention problems in children, or if children who are naturally prone to inattention are disproportionately attracted to the stimulation of television at young ages, or if there is some other factor, such as parenting skills, associated with this finding. How well a parent can capture and keep a two-year-old's attention on a toy may be more important than just a pleasant way to pass the time. "By successfully focusing a young child's attention on objects during free play, parents may be giving their child practice in using attention as a way to shift into a positive emotional state," said Raver. "We found that children whose parents actively directed and maintained their child's visual attention spent more time distracting themselves away from a source of distress." In one study, Raver observed 47 urban low-income mothers and their two-year-olds for ten minutes of free play, analyzing how much the pair kept each other's attention. The mother then left the room for four minutes and trained observers noted how the child managed his/her emotions. After the mother returned, the experimenter placed a new toy out of reach of the child, stating that the child could have it in a few minutes after the experimenter returned to the room. "Both strategies were effective for delaying gratification, maintaining behavioral self-control and modulating feelings of distress," said Raver.
Modern society
Some authors, such as Neil Postman in his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, believe that the attention span of humans is decreasing as use of modern technology, especially television, increases. Internet browsing may have a similar effect because it enables users to move easily from one page to another. Most internet users spend less than one minute on the average website. Movie reviewerRoger Ebert, an active blogger and "Tweeter," wrote of the effect of technology on his reading habits and his search for on the web and in life. Ebert cited Nicholas Carr'sJune 2010Wired magazine article. This article summarizes UCLA professor Gary Small's study, which used an MRI scan to measure the differences in the cerebral blood-flow of six participants, three "experienced Web surfers" and three "novices," while they performed tasks with "goggles" and a "handheld keypad." First, participants searched Google for "various preselected topics," resulting increases in prefrontal cortex activity in "experienced Web surfers" to be higher than that of the "novices." Second, participants read text with the goggles, resulting in no significant differences in brain activity between the two groups. Afterwards the "experienced Web veterans," spent an hour a day online for five days, the study found no significant difference between the two groups.
