Question

Janice is watching her daughter play soccer. Suddenly, she notices a bright flash and loud boom off to the side of the soccer field, indicating a thunderstorm. Which term refers to Janice's involuntary shift of attention to the bright flash and loud sound?

Answer 1

Attentional capture

Step-by-step explanation:

In psychology, the term attentional capture refers to the unintentional focusing of attention. In other words, this phenomenon takes place when attention is involuntarily directed towards a new stimulus based on the characteristics of that second stimulus interrupting our previous focus of attention.

In this example, Janice is focused on her daughter's soccer game. Suddenly she notices a bright flash and loud boom that indicates a thunderstorm and she involuntarily shifts her attention to this flash and sound, we can see that her attention was involuntarily directed towards the flash and sound because they were bright and loud, interrupting her attention on the game. Thus, this is an example of attentional capture.