A free, self-paced textbook in 8 chapters. Read a chapter, then drill it with the 178 companion flashcards using spaced repetition.
Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on certain stimuli while ignoring others, while focus is the sustained application of that attention toward a specif...
The brain accomplishes attentional selection through interacting networks of regions. The task-positive network (TPN), especially the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and posterior p...
Early theories of attention tried to explain why we cannot consciously process everything we sense. Donald Broadbent's 1958 filter theory proposed an early-selection bottleneck: in...
Focus is not just in the mind but in the body, and the relationship between arousal and performance is captured by the Yerkes-Dodson law: performance increases with physiological o...
Attention is a skill that can be trained, and mindfulness meditation has been the most studied form of attentional training. Regular practice is associated with better sustained at...
Effective study begins with how time is structured. Single-tasking, deliberately working on one task at a time without parallel activities or distractions, aligns with how the brai...
Habits and routines are the scaffold on which long-term focus is built. Long-term focus is best achieved by converting study goals into habitually triggered routines, freeing limit...
The clearest evidence that attention is under pressure today comes from studies of multitasking, switching, and the technologies that surround studying. The so-called multitasking...