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Meaning & use

focused attention

noun·Academic

Last updated

UK/ˌfəʊkəst əˈtenʃn/
US/ˌfoʊkəst əˈtenʃn/

Meanings

  1. noununcountable

    The act of directing all your mental effort toward one thing while ignoring other things around you.

    Grammar: Uncountable: say 'focused attention', not 'a focused attention' or 'focused attentions'.

    Patterns

    • focused attention on something
    • give something focused attention
    • need focused attention

    Solving this puzzle takes focused attention, so please turn off the TV.

    The teacher gave each struggling student focused attention for ten minutes.

    After a long day, I find it hard to give my work focused attention.

  2. noununcountabletechnical

    In psychology, the state of concentrating deliberately on a single task or object rather than letting the mind wander.

    Grammar: Used as a technical term in psychology; often contrasted with 'divided attention'.

    Patterns

    • focused attention task
    • measure focused attention
    • sustain focused attention

    The study compared focused attention with divided attention in young drivers.

    Meditation training can improve focused attention over several weeks.

    Researchers measured how long participants could hold focused attention.

Common combinations

focused attention on
The report puts focused attention on air quality in cities.
give focused attention to
Good managers give focused attention to their team's problems.
require focused attention
Driving in heavy rain requires focused attention.
focused attention span
Young children have a short focused attention span.

Synonyms and how they differ

concentration
A more everyday word for the same idea; 'focused attention' sounds more technical and often suggests deliberately ignoring distractions.
absorption
Suggests being so interested that you lose awareness of everything else, which is stronger and less deliberate than focused attention.
mindfulness
A related but broader term from meditation meaning calm awareness of the present moment, not just effort on one task.

Opposites

distractiondivided attention

Word family

focus verb
To direct your attention or a camera on something.
focus noun
The main point of interest or the act of concentrating.
focused adjective
Giving clear attention to a goal; also describes a picture that is sharp.
attentive adjective
Paying careful attention to someone or something.

Commonly confused: focused attention or divided attention?

focused attention vs divided attention

Divided attention means trying to deal with two or more things at once, while focused attention means deliberately dealing with only one.

Practice

The lecture was hard to follow because it demanded ______ attention.

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