NOTE: If you have not read The Dynamics of Attending, the article below will have greater impact if you do that first.
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Monkey Minds – The Dilemma of Distractability
All distractions are interruptions, but
all interruptions are NOT distractions.
An interruption is a momentary disturbance in the projected flow of a physical or mental activity that creates a break in continuity for a relatively brief interval.
Inherent in the definition is the assumption that concentration will return to the interrupted activity, if appropriate, implying that the control of one’s focus is volitional – a factor of the “will-power” of the individual who has been interrupted.
A distraction, on the other hand, is a disruption of an individual’s concentrated attention upon a chosen object of focus. The distinction between the two otherwise similar events is that a distraction is intrusive: it prevents effective operation of the first and third of the three Dynamics of Attending:
- focusing on the intended object
and
- sustaining the focus.
As long as the second dynamic – shifting focus at will – operates efficiently, “one quick interruption” remains so. Most people can get back on track effectively as long as the “distracting” event is not pervasive or repetitive.
Ay, there’s the rub!
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Practically all of us here in ADD-land have what the neuropsychs call “short-term memory deficits.”
