Selectivity, Resistance to Distraction and Shifting as Three Attentional Factors

Abstract

To assess whether degree of selectivity, ability to resist distraction, and capacity for voluntary shifting are separate, identifiable attention processes, 164 eighth-grade students were given three adaptations of the Gottschaldt Embedded-figures Test. Distraction was represented by three tasks devised by Karp, called Cancellation, Arithmetic Operations, and the Distracting Contexts Test 2B. Shifting was defined by an anagrams task and one requiring the drawing of alternately placed triangles. A group version of the Stroop Color-Word Test was predicted to load both selectivity and shifting. Data were subjected to a principal components analysis, followed by an oblique rotation which permits comparison of the degree to which an obtained factor matrix approximates a hypothesized pattern matrix. Tests load as predicted. Results support the hypothesis of three separate attention factors underlying the performance of tests used.