How Attention Works: Finding Your Way in a World Full of Distraction

by Stefan van der Stigchel, Danny Guinan (Translator)

How we filter out what is irrelevant so we can focus on what we need to know.

We are surrounded by a world rich with visual information, but we pay attention to very little of it, filtering out what is irrelevant so we can focus on what we think we need to know. Advertisers, web designers, and other “attention architects” try hard to get our attention, promoting products with videos on huge outdoor screens, adding flashing banners to websites, and developing computer programs with blinking icons that tempt us to click. Often they succeed in distracting us from what we are supposed to be doing. In HowAttention Works, Stefan Van der Stigchel explains the process of attention and what the implications are for our everyday lives.

The visual attention system is efficient, Van der Stigchel writes, because it doesn't waste energy processing every scrap of visual data it receives; it gathers only relevant information. We focus on one snippet of information and assume that everything else is stable and consistent with past experience; that's why most people miss even the most glaring continuity errors in films. If an object doesn't meet our expectations, chances are we won't see it. Van der Stigchel makes his case with examples from real life, explaining, among other things, the limitations of color perception (and why fire trucks shouldn't be red); the importance of location (security guards and radiologists, for example, have to know where to look); the attention-getting properties of faces and spiders; what we can learn from someone else's eye movements; why we see what we expect to see (magicians take advantage of this); and visual neglect and unattended information.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Self Help, Science

152 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 15, 2019

Reviews

[Mad Hab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read, short, to the point.

[John Stepper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A better title would have been “How VISUAL attention works” as the book covers much narrower topic than I expected.

Still, there were plenty of interesting facts about the visual system and the role of attention in what we see and perceive.

[Rianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geweldige introductie in de wereld van de visuele aandachtspsychologie. Heel toegankelijk, beeldend en onderhoudend geschreven; bij vlagen hardop gelachen om de droge humor. Van zo'n relatief dun boekje verwacht je niet al teveel informatie, maar het is desondanks volgepakt met kennis en toch rijk geïllustreerd met voorbeelden. Erg leuk.

[Michael Thorley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am afraid to say that my attention, visual and otherwise wandered. I am not sure the author had quite decided who the target audience was and so there was a mixture of physiology and anatomy of the eye mixed in with very long and too many examples. A restructure and slimming down would help

[Generous Listening by Vuslat Foundation]

On the #GenerousListeningBookClub 📚 How Attention Works: Finding Your Way in a World Full of Distraction, by Stefan Van Der Stigchel 💥

A Professor of Cognitive Psychology, Van Der Stigchel’s book is a fascinating, interactive, and entertaining look at how our visual attention works.

“We are surrounded by a world rich with visual information, but we pay attention to very little of it, filtering out what is irrelevant so we can focus on what we think we need to know. Advertisers, web designers, and other “attention architects” try hard to get our attention, promoting products with videos on huge outdoor screens, adding flashing banners to websites, and developing computer programs with blinking icons that tempt us to click. Often they succeed in distracting us from what we are supposed to be doing. In How Attention Works, Stefan Van der Stigchel explains the process of attention and what the implications are for our everyday lives.”

Part of becoming a generous listener is understanding and tackling the distractions that vy for our attention. This book is a valuable resource in understanding how the brain navigates a complex visual world.

#Attention #AttentionEconomy #Focus #Concentration #Listening #DeepListening #CompassionateListening #BookClub #GenerousListening

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't understand how a book about attention could so thoroughly fail to capture mine.

Perhaps I had the wrong expectations going in. I expected a book about how we allocate our attention, which mechanisms increase or decrease our attention, and maybe a little self-help in the way of improving my own attention span. I got a book that narrowly defined attention as "what you're looking at and visually processing at the moment," then merrily delved into the nuts and bolts (fovea and ganglia?) of the eyeball-brain interface.

I could see this book being absolutely fascinating for neurologists, ophthalmologists, neuroopthalmologists, psychologists, and other health-sciences academics. As an educated lay reader, however, I found "How Attention Works" to be too detailed, too lacking in an overarching thesis, and too dry. Repeatedly, I found my attention wandering while reading this text and had to make a conscious effort to stay on task. I don't recommend this book for the general reader.

[Diego Barrera]

Soy estudiante de Terapia Ocupacional, esta carrera profesional me ha llevado a analizar mi experiencia de vida en detalle, donde observo en ella como en la teoría que el ser humano tiene problemas en sus procesos atencionales, lo que conlleva a no poder desempeñarse satisfactoriamente en lo que se propone, por lo que estoy muy interesado en leerlo con el objetivo de aplicar esas estrategias en mis planes de intervención y, en especial, en mi vida; debido que todo esto hace resaltar y fortalecer el sentido y significado por la ocupación.

[Rishabh Srivastava · Rating 2 out of 5]

A more accurate title would be "How Visual Attention Works". Had some good points – particularly about the applications of visual attention architecture to website design and to advertising. But was poorly structured.

[Kristof · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessant boek over hoe we spontaan en onbewust onze (beperkte) aandacht verdelen. Het boek heeft een stevige onderbouwing maar valt daardoor soms wat tussen wal (wetenschappelijk) en schip (populair) werk.

Het is wel vlot geschreven en aangenaam om te lezen maar mist soms wat richting.

[Geoff Walling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject, and surely expands your knowledge of the subject. Too detailed if you're not already into the subject.

[Monique Van hest · Rating 2 out of 5]

Het mag van mij dieper gaan.

[Wendy Van Houten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessant boek over visuele aandacht. Veel studies en onderwerpen herkende ik vanuit pedagogische wetenschappen. Het boek maakte het zeker duidelijker

[Phoebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: I want to make note of how refreshingly unapologetic Stigchel is about using his own institute's research for 90% of his references. He says it's cos the Netherlands is known to be a pioneer in his field. But really it's prob cos the book is a revision of his phd thesis. Even so, a toast must be given for achieving the impossible--explain a niche science using everyday prose and anecdotes. If you have an afternoon to spare and want to know about visual cues and misdirections, then this book is for you.

[Thorlakur · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must have been ill disposed when reading this book, because I had a hard time concentrating on the text, so it did not do a great job in keeping my attention. This text could perhaps be helpful to those working in advertising and similar, but is of minimal interest to the layman.

[issa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not entirely sure who this book was written for.

The title implies that it has some practical contemporary purpose, that somehow it contains insight and wisdom into navigating the peculiar version of the 21st century we find ourselves in. The introduction suggests that perhaps this isn’t the case, but that some sort of insight into the minds of the designers imagining our built environment into existence might guide us through those trials.

And yet, the content of this book is some mix between the first month of an interaction design 101 course and very brief summaries of academic studies within the areas of design and attention.

What this all amounts to is a book that is likely too weedy for the average reader, too elementary for an interested professional, and too shallow for an academic researcher.

I didn’t learn nothing from How Attention Works, and I didn’t dislike my time with it. It’s well written and it flows well. But i don’t feel like I learned how attention works, I’m not sure I picked anything up that could be applied to my work, and I don’t feel like I gained any insight into technology and society.

[Issa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4★彡 "After reading this book, you will hopefully be more aware of the continuous battle for our attention that rages all around us." A truly compelling read, and I liked the directness of the writing. This is a helpful book for the so-called "attention architects"—advertising agents, website designers, graphics engineers, etc. ---

[Willem · Rating 2 out of 5]

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