Page:Psychology and preaching.djvu/183

 ATTENTION 165

consciousness must focalize upon a limited section of my environment at every moment and guide my action with reference to that. 1

This limitation of my consciousness would be very unfor tunate if it were necessary or even important for me to act with reference to all the objects in my environment at once. But this is never the case. Usually it is only one or a small group of objects to which at a given instant it is necessary for me to adjust myself ; the rest for the time being can be disregarded. Sometimes, indeed, one is placed in a situation which at the very same instant requires ad justment to a number of objects greater than his capacity to hold together in consciousness. If the adjustments re quired by such a situation are of a vitally important charac ter, there is grave danger of injury; and if there is no peril involved, there is danger of committing an embarrassing blunder. If, for instance, one is crossing a public square which is thronged with swift vehicles moving in all direc tions, he is in peril because he needs to adjust himself at the same instant to a greater number of objects than he can hold in clear consciousness at once. If he is accosted by a number of persons at the same moment he is confused and embarrassed for the same reason. In such situations we are helped by two powers of the mind. First, consciousness can focus upon one after another of the objects with great rapidity. Second, if the required adjustment is one which we have often made, it will be made automatically, placing little if any tax upon consciousness. Usually with the aid of these facilitating capacities of the mind we can succeed in adjusting ourselves to such situations with sufficient promptness and accuracy to avoid destruction and attain to a considerable measure of satisfaction.

In the foregoing statement we have the main outlines of the doctrine of the attention, which will now be discussed in detail.

I. Its nature. Attention is focalized consciousness.

1 See Arnold s &quot; Attention and Interest,&quot; p. 94-

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