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Sustained attention: Holding attention over a period of time is necessary for the focus and concentration needed in learning, listening during lectures, paying attention during conversations or instructions. Reading a book requires the ability to pay attention over a period of time without becoming distracted. As reading requirements become more advanced in the older grades, sustained attention is challenged by chapter books and reading comprehension., ord search- cross out all letter a’s, etc., Write out a list of words that start with a certain letter. Identify a certain number of words., Ordering information into alphabetical or numerical order, Set a timer and complete a task or reading passage for a certain number of minutes, Selective attention: By nature, we are able to select the input we pay attention to. Consciously, and unconsciously, we are able to select the input which is most important. This is visible by the student who listens to their teacher during a lesson while a lawn mower is running outside the classroom window. Anyone familiar with a classroom can imagine all of the stimuli which is thrown at a child at any given time: a fly on the window, the first snowflakes of the season falling outside, a flickering fluorescent light, a fellow classmate with a bad cough, a janitor cart passing by in the hallway, a student’s pencil that drops, a tapping of a shoe, a rumbling belly waiting for lunch…there is a lot going on which challenges selective attention! Having the ability to select from the many points of visual, auditory, interoceptive, tactile, stimuli in order to focus and attend to just one, is the brain’s ability to select and respond to just one factors that matter most., Activities to Improve Selective Attention-, Use visual cues, Work on auditory skills, Limit visual distractions, Reduce background noise, Position kids away from windows or hallways in the classroom, The Focus Game, ALTERNATING ATTENTION: This type of attention refers to the ability to switch or immediately transfer focus from one activity to another. Switching points of concentration is needed to make sudden switches in alternating attention in tasks which require different cognitive skills. One example of this is cooking a meal and performing various tasks at once (boiling water, chopping carrots, and helping kids with homework is just one example. As a side note, it seems like teachers and parents excel in alternating attention. Alternating attention requires the ability to use the other attention types in tasks., Cooking with kids activities, Musical chairs, Eye Found It Game, Flip cards in a deck and perform actions based on the suit, color, or number, Sort coins or colored items, Practice performing a task that can easily become distractible such as going online to send an email…or shopping in Target., The Sneaky, Snacky, Squirrel game, DIVIDED ATTENTION: Divided attention refers to one’s ability to focus on two or more things at the same time. Simultaneously concentrating on various factors is evidenced by driving and holding a conversation simultaneously. This ability to multi-task isn’t always an easy thing to manage. The ability to hold attention to various simultaneous point of concentration can require practice. A teen who is learning to drive will need the radio turned off and the only conversation in the car being verbal instructions from a parent or driving instructor. Only through practice does that new driver learn to concentrate on the road while the radio is playing., Practice games such as Connect Four with background distractions or verbal instructions, Increasingly complex verbal memory games,

Types of attention

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