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Attention Span and ADHD
We have five senses and stimulation is received by them. We feel, see, smell, hear, and taste our environment. The processing of this incoming sensory information is known as attention. To some extent, what we are aware of depends on what we choose to attend, not merely on the stimulation entering our five senses. The amount of time one is able to spend concentrating on stimuli is the attention span.
A common and confusing scenario arises when AD/HD children and adults can pay attention to off the-shelf commercial video games for hours yet cannot pay attention to simple tasks like homework or balancing a checkbook. It seems contradictory to see the same person who is able to play a video game for two hours claim to be unable to attend to homework for more than five minutes. This may be directly related to stimulation levels. AD/HD seems to necessitate high level stimulation before the AD/HD person can attend to it unless they are quite interested in the incoming stimuli. Thus, interest is directly related to attention and selective attention. Selective attention may be partly under personal control, and partly determined by stimulus salience (interest in the stimulus, significance of the stimulus, etc.). Training can be performed to teach attention to all levels of stimuli regardless of salience thus minimizing the effect at school and the office while increasing performance.
A short attention span is definitely a drawback, especially at school and at work. It is the hallmark of AD/HD and adversely affects the learning process as diminished attention is paid to the teacher or lesson (see Learning and AD/HD).
The field of attention and selective attention has been researched considerably in the past in the field of psychology. Current brain imaging methods such as PET, SPECT, and other imaging methods have revealed new information. Research has demonstrated that the processing of sensory input is, at times, spread throughout and controlled differently in perceptual networks. While research on selective attention has allowed insight into the brain and its associated networks, the field is considered nascent and will likely advance significantly in the upcoming years.