1. Divided by the degree of voluntary effort
(1) Involuntary attention
① Meaning: Attention that does not have a purpose beforehand and does not require voluntary effort to maintain.
② Causes:
A. Characteristics of stimuli: Novelty of stimuli, intensity of stimuli, changes in movement, etc.
B. Individual state: Individual's own state, needs, emotions, interests, experiences, etc.
(2) Voluntary attention
① Meaning: Attention that has a predetermined purpose and requires a certain amount of voluntary effort to maintain.
② Causes:
A. Attention goals and tasks: The clearer and more specific the goals, the easier it is to induce and maintain voluntary attention.
B. Interest: Indirect interest plays an important role in voluntary attention. The greater the interest in the outcome of an activity (i.e. indirect interest), the easier it is to maintain stable and focused attention.
C. Activity organization: The ability to organize activities correctly. For example, people with good habits can work with full concentration within a specified time; on the other hand, those who are busy all day may find it difficult to organize when voluntary attention is needed.
D. Past experience: Activities related to one's own knowledge and experience are easier to induce voluntary attention compared to activities unrelated to them.
E. Personality: People with strong willpower are more likely to induce their own voluntary attention.
(3) Post-voluntary attention
① Meaning: Attention that has a predetermined purpose and can be completed with little voluntary effort. Post-voluntary attention generally develops based on voluntary attention.
② Causes:
A. Direct interest.
B. Level of proficiency.
2. Divided by the quality of attention
(1) Selective attention:
Individuals choose one stimulus from two or more stimuli presented simultaneously to pay attention to, while ignoring the others.
The use of dichotic listening experiments can study selective attention and reveal how people effectively choose one type of stimulus and ignore another type of stimulus, as well as the specific process of selection. Negative priming, inhibition of return, and attentional blink reflect the characteristics of the inhibitory mechanism of selective attention.
(2) Sustained attention: Attention that remains focused on a certain object or activity for a certain period of time. The sustainability of attention is an important indicator of attention quality and is usually measured using vigilance tasks.
(3) Divided attention:
Individuals pay attention to two or more stimuli at the same time or allocate attention to different activities, which is an important condition for completing complex tasks.
The most commonly used method to study divided attention is dual-task operation, which allows participants to simultaneously complete two tasks and observe their performance.
One basic condition for attention allocation is the level of proficiency or automation of the various activities being performed simultaneously.