Attention – Kathy Cui

Attention is a cognitive control process in which we focus our awareness, senses (visual, auditory, etc.), and mental energy on specific aspects of the environment, allowing us to select and process relevant information while filtering out everything irrelevant. This can occur either voluntarily and intentionally or unintentionally because something piqued our interest. Focusing on multiple stimuli simultaneously is referred to as divided attention, but our attention is typically limited to just a few items.  Attention plays a crucial role in our learning, memory, and perception of time. Generally, what we direct our attention towards can result in different temporal distortions, which is the changing of a person’s time perception. More specifically, when more attention is given to time, time will be perceived as longer (Grodin 2019). For instance, time is often reported to slow down when waiting for something or someone or when staring at the clock while bored. If we are focused on how long something takes, we feel that even more time has passed than the actual time elapsed. When our attention is not focused on the time passing by and instead focused elsewhere, time is often reported to speed up. Time, in this case, flies by. For example, if our attention is directed toward something we enjoy, find interesting, or deeply care about, we lose track of time and severely underestimate how much time has elapsed. This can include watching a movie, listening to music, interacting with friends, or playing a game. Thus, where we place our attention has a profound impact on our experience of time.

Grondin, S. (2019). The perception of time: Your questions answered. Routledge.