Week 4: Focus

A conceptual image representing attention and focus, featuring brain circuits, a person meditating, and dynamic visuals of energy and light.

Master Your Focus: The Attention Quiz

Test your understanding of focus and attention with this engaging quiz designed to enhance your knowledge and skills. Explore concepts such as voluntary and involuntary attention, and the relationship between values and goals.

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13 Questions3 MinutesCreated by FocusingMind432

What is "unbalanced focus"?

It is focus that is locked into a single goal and therefore is inflexible.

It is focus that is too flexible.

It is focus while losing your balance from being dizzy.

It is too much mental and not enough physical focus.

Which of these statements applies to a "bottom up" process in the context of attention? Choose all that apply.

A bottom up process is usually unconcious.

A bottom up process is driven primarily by subcortical regions in the brain.

A bottom up process is the main element in voluntary attention.

A bottom up process is involved when we react automatically to stimuli (such as a loud sound) that may threaten our survival.

In terms of your frameworks of values and the goals that emerge from them, which of these statements is true?

Attention and the actions that come from attention are completely unrelated to one's goals or values.

Although our goals generally come from our values, we never actually act in accord with those values, even when we pay deliberate attention to what we are doing.

We have at least some choice over the values that we choose, and if we emphasize a particular framework of values, we will probably act in accord with the goals that emerge from those values.

Humans learn values as infants, and those values determine everything about their goals from infancy, since the brain stops changing very early in life.

According to Dr. Davidson in the Ezra Klein interview, which of the following is true about awareness?

Increasing the volume of the prefrontal cortex is important.

Fear contracts awareness.

Increased screen time has been proven to reduce awareness.

Young people today have more capacity to focus than young people did 30-years ago.

On the Ezra Klein podcast excerpt, Dr. Davidson likened attention to which of these? Check all that apply.

The connection of the amygdala and prefrontal cortices.

None of the above.

The corresponding circuits are like unused muscles that can atrophy.

A sailboat that can get blown around by the wind.

Which of these is NOT true of "voluntary attention"?

It includes a sense of agency.

It is primarily "top down."

It requires effort, and is thus related to System 2.

It occurs automatically.

In the context of attention, a "top down" process... (Choose all that apply.)

may be involved in regulating a "bottom up" response.

is especially associated with system 2.

is important for voluntary attention.

involves primarily cortical regions of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC).

Which of these statements applies to the topic of attention? Choose all that apply.

It is a complex process that can be “decomposed” into numerous sub-processes.

“Attention” refers to the process of holding an object in awareness in a way that makes it available for action.

Attention is generally improving with each generation.

The distinction between System 1 (hot/fast) and System 2 (cold/slow) is relevant.

Which of these are some key questions about attention that were raised by the online lecture and the review in class? Check all that apply.

From a behavioral standpoint, which goals override others?

What aspects of my attention can be changed, and how?

What is the quality of my attention?

How do I become aware of these aspects of attention?

What are my values and their goals?

How do I become aware of what values override others?

If you alter your system of values, it will certainly change your attention because you generally pay attention to

only the things that align with the values that you want to have, even though you may have other values that unconsciously make you pay attention to things through attention capture.

Things that have to do with your goals, which are unrelated to your values.

The things that are relevant to accomplishing the goals that emerge from your system of values.

Anything at all that happens to be available to your senses.

According to Dr. Davidson, what is true about attention. Check all that apply.

Attention is a basic biological process that is completely distinct from and unaffected by our voluntary intentions or actions.

Attention is the basic building block for all forms of learning.

Attention cannot be itself improved, but the conditions for attention can be managed.

As William James wrote, an education that enhanced attention would be the education par excellence.

Which of these is true of attention? Check all that apply.

It involves evaluation.

It is impossible to change anything about attention.

We only attend to objects that are relevant to our engagement in the world.

It occurs so as to make an object available for action

What is "attention capture"?

It happens when the captured object is brought into attention by the motor cortex.

It happens when you capture an object with your attention.

It happens when attention is involuntarily oriented to a stimulus.

It refers to deliberate, voluntary attention on an object.

Week 4: Focus

Master Your Focus: The Attention Quiz

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