Week 9 Question 2

2). Give a personal example where you have had selective attention. Why do you think that is? Is there a way you were able to overcome it?

Most of the time, I have had selective attention on a social gatherings; where I am hanging out with group of friends and/or families. Many of us, on this kind of gatherings, while the sounds of people conversing, laughing, shouting, and the music playing, we struggle to have a meaningful conversation with the few people attending. I recall one time where I had selective attention. I was in this family party trying to have a meaningful discussion with a number of individuals and trying to hear what the other person is saying which by itself a pain. All of a sudden, from across the room, I hear my name mentioned. Immediately, my attention is shifted to the direction I heard my name and started to listen in.The reason is that “…we have learned to pay attention to those stimuli that are familiar to us and that have a particular significance for us.” In this case, hearing my name had some significance. When my name is mentioned, I automatically assumed it was important to overhear it. While I pretended to have my attention to the conversation I had with circle of individuals, I was able to figure out what they were talking about. The only way I was able to overcome it was by finding out the context or the whole conversation and disregarding it.