ATTENTION 



467 



ATTENTION 



know whether or not they are obtaining the 

 pure article. In the United States retailers place 

 attar of roses on the market in small slender 

 bottles containing only three or four drops, and 

 the price of this amount is usually one dollar. 



ATTENTION, a ten' shun, is the fixing of 

 the mind upon some object or thought for a 

 definite purpose. Sometimes the purpose is 

 immediate, as when we give attention to an 

 object for the purpose of learning what the 

 object is; sometimes it is remote, as when the 

 pupil in school gives his attention to a lesson, 

 as in grammar, that in time he may be able 

 to use the English language correctly. Atten- 

 tion is always present in a state of conscious- 

 ness; that is, when we are awake we always 

 attend to something. We often say that a 

 child is inattentive. What we really mean is 

 that he is not giving attention to the subject 

 in hand. His attention is where his interest 

 lies. 



The best of modern authorities recognize 

 three phases of attention to which they have 

 given different names, such as non-voluntary, 

 voluntary and acquired, or passive, active and 

 secondary passive. Whatever the terms used 

 in describing these phases, the meaning is the 

 same. 



Passive Attention. Passive or non-voluntary 

 attention is that phase of attention which re- 

 quires no effort on the part of the individual. 

 Loud sounds, bright lights, peculiar odors force 

 themselves upon us, as it were, without any 

 effort on our part. Again, the child's attention 

 primarily is directed by those external objects 

 which make the strongest impression upon his 

 mind through the special senses. He is at- 

 tracted by a bright flower, the flitting of a 

 butterfly, the song of a bird, the rippling of 

 tin brook or any other object which makes an 

 impression through the avenues of the special 

 sense; but there is no definite purpose in it .ill. 



Active Attention. Active or voluntary atten- 

 tion is directed by the will for a definite pur- 

 pose. The purpose is more or less remote, but 

 the ultimate good upon which the atten- 

 tion is fixed, and between the present status 

 of the individual and that goal th< n m.iy be 

 many long steps, each requiring special atten- 

 tion before the succeeding step can be 1 



ich a case each step becomes a goal I. i-lmi: 

 to the ultimate end. To illustrate: A boy is 

 .I.M-.I that he may go to a circus that is 

 to exhibit in the neighborhood in two weeks, 

 provided he will finish certain tasks. He gives 

 In- attention to his work not merely for the 



sake of completing the tasks, but because of 

 what to him seems the greater, but more 

 remote, good, the privilege of going to the 

 circus. The ultimate end makes a strong ap- 

 peal, and he works with a will to secure it. 

 Were school tasks made equally attractive 

 pupils would work at their lessons with equal 

 zeal. 



Passive attention merges into active atten- 

 tion so easily that we often fail to recognize 

 the change. Just as soon as we begin to give 

 our attention to an object which was forced 

 upon us for the purpose of gratifying our curi- 

 osity about it, our attention has become active. 

 Passive attention is, therefore, in children, and 

 frequently in adults, the first step towards 

 active attention. Passive attention is char- 

 acteristic of the young child; active attention 

 of the adult. 



Secondary Passive Attention. Secondary 

 passive attention, or acquired attention, differs 

 from active attention only in degree. It may 

 best be illustrated by the condition in which 

 a man finds himself when he begins a new occu- 

 pation or takes a position which places him 

 amid unfamiliar surroundings. At first there 

 are so many strange sights and sounds that 

 intrude themselves upon his consciousness that 

 it is with the greatest difficulty that he can 

 hold his mind upon the work before him. In 

 course of time, however, the new becomes 

 commonplace. Each day his task becomes 

 easier, until in a few weeks he finds that it 

 requires little or no effort to keep his mind 

 upon his work. In other words, he has formed 

 the habit oj attending to his work. But he 

 has formed it by effort. 



Place of Attention in Education. Attention 

 is the first step in gaining knowledge. Joseph 

 Cook said, "Interest is the mother of atten- 

 tion, and attention is the mother of know). 

 If you would win the daughter, be sure of the 

 mother and grandmother." Sir Isaac Newton 

 said that he was able to accomplish what others 

 failed to do because he could hold his attention 

 upon a problem for a longer time than they 

 could. Training in attention is essential to a 

 well-di-npliiied mind. 



-.turn grows with the development of 

 the mind. It is - the adult than in 



the child. It is a selective activity; wh.v 

 ideas are m our minds are there because at 

 some time in life \\. chose to put them ti 

 Attention can be fixed only upon those objects 

 and ide.is that h.ive >..::, e meaning, that is, 

 \\hich point to something big in themselves. 



