Selective Attention

Selective attention occurs every single day to a person. Selective attention is when a person focuses on specific objects and filters out others. It is the opposite of dividing attention, which is paying attention to more than one thing at a time. Selective attention is necessary in today's world. There is too much incoming stimulation toward the retina to process everything. Also, some parts of the environment are more enjoyable and important than others.
Growing up, Simon was a very popular game. It's a game that causes one to use their memory skills. As you look at each color to memorize, your selective attention triggers by focusing on just that. There can be other things in the area that moves, but you filter them out and focus on each color being lit up. Eye movements can take in different parts of a scene. There are two types of eye movements. Saccades are small, rapid eye movements and fixations are pauses in eye movements that indicate where a person is attending. The eye has about three fixations per second.