Attention contains an element of interest and a determination to deal with a certain thing. Focus is “ a point at which rays (as of light, heat, or sound) converge or from which they diverge[4]”. More abstractly focus is “a center of activity, attraction, or attention[4]”. All three of these terms have their roots in absolute usages. They have gained more abstract meanings through the time.
More precisely, attention is “ a condition of readiness for applying the mind to something[1]”. To focus is “to bring into attentional focus[1]”, “to cause to be concentrated[1]”. To concentrate is “to bring or direct toward a common center or objective[2]”, “to focus one's powers, efforts, or attention[2]”. Please refer to the references for extensive dictionary entries.
In one of the forms of visual attention “attention is concentrated to a specific area of the visual scene (i.e. it is focused),” “The focus is an area that extracts information from the visual scene with a high-resolution, the geometric center of which being where visual attention is directed [5].”
To focus is by definition to exclude something and direct the attention to the focused area. This is the same for visual or abstract focusing. To focus on an object means to gather our attention to that specific object and exclude others.
To concentrate is more abstract than to focus by definition. In terms of looking with your eyes, , concentrating means to look at something and see other things only in relation to this reference point. To focus means to look at something and not see other things at all.
Concentric means ‘having a common centre[6]’. It also means ‘to make dense[2]’. To concentrate on an abstract thing means to focus in the beginning on only that thing but than begin to look for all the things semantically related to this focused thing and progress in spheres of abstraction outwards and far from the beginning point.
Focusing implies unconditional exclusion by definition. Concentrating implies inclusion of every possible related thing to a limited subject. For every concentration effort probably there is a focusing stage at the beginning.
Focusing and concentrating are mental functions that belong to human mind. The character of these functions give strong clues on their origins in the mind.
“selective attention and behavioral inhibition are two sides of the same coin: Attention is the effect of biasing competition in favor of task-relevant information, and inhibition is the consequence that this has for the irrelevant information[7].” Selective attention is a Pre Frontal Cortex (PFC) function.
PFC provides many executive control functions including the sense of consciousness.
It is more difficult to find specific limited similarities for concentrating. Concentrating implies strong memory access (probably long term and short term), Anterior Cingulate Cortex for checking whether the semantically related item is really related and usefull, PFC fro executive control and keeping the matter under the control of the ‘will’ and probably others.
A carefull comment can be made after these. Concentrating needs more flexibility and relaxing than focusing. You need brute force to focus immediately, but a more relaxed and flexible attitude and possibly more interaction[8] while concentrating.
Memory retrieval is faster when done as an automatic process. Automatic processes need a more relaxed and flexible attitude. Increased interaction also may help to create interruptions which ACC needs to intervene to check the correctness of the current process[9].
Ali R+ SARAL
REFERENCES:
[1] Merriam-Webster
Definition of FOCUS
transitive verb
1a : to bring into focus b : to adjust the focus of (as the eye or a lens)
2: to cause to be concentrated
3: to bring (as light rays) to a focus : concentrate
intransitive verb
1: to come to a focus : converge
2: to adjust one's eye or a camera to a particular range
3: to concentrate attention or effort
Examples of FOCUS
1. She has an amazing ability to focus for hours at a time.
2. I wasn't able to focus the camera.
3. I wasn't able to get the camera to focus.
First Known Use of FOCUS
1775
[2] Merriam-Webster
Definition of CONCENTRATE
transitive verb
1a : to bring or direct toward a common center or objective : FOCUS
2a : to make less dilute
intransitive verb
1: to draw toward or meet in a common center
2: GATHER, COLLECT
3: to focus one's powers, efforts, or attention
Origin of CONCENTRATE
com- + Latin centrum center
First Known Use: 1641
[3] Merriam-Webster
Definition of ATTENTION
1a : the act or state of applying the mind to something b : a condition of readiness for such attention involving especially a selective narrowing or focusing of consciousness and receptivity
2: OBSERVATİON, NOTİCE; especially : consideration with a view to action
3a : an act of civility or courtesy especially in courtship
...
Examples of ATTENTION
1. We focused our attention on this particular poem.
2. My attention wasn't really on the game.
3. You need to pay more attention in school.
4. She likes all the attention she is getting from the media.
5. The actor avoids drawing attention to himself.
6. The book has received national attention.
7. The trial is getting a lot of public attention.
8. The children were competing for the teacher's attention.
9. A cat on a leash is sure to attract attention.
10. I would like to call your attention to a problem we are having.
Origin of ATTENTION
Middle English attencioun, from Latin attention-, attentio, from attendere
First Known Use: 14th century
[4]Merriam Webster
Definition of FOCUS
1a : a point at which rays (as of light, heat, or sound) converge or from which they diverge or appear to diverge; specifically : the point where the geometrical lines or their prolongations conforming to the rays diverging from or converging toward another point intersect and give rise to an image after reflection by a mirror or refraction by a lens or optical system b : a point of convergence of a beam of particles (as electrons)
2a : FOCAL LENGTH b : adjustment for distinct vision; also : the area that may be seen distinctly or resolved into a clear image c : a state or condition permitting clear perception or understanding
3: one of the fixed points that with the corresponding directrix defines a conic section
4: a localized area of disease or the chief site of a generalized disease or infection
5a : a center of activity, attraction, or attention
6: the place of origin of an earthquake or moonquake
7: directed attention : EMPHASİS
Examples of FOCUS
1. He's successful, but he feels that his life lacks focus.
2. His life lacks a focus.
Origin of FOCUS
New Latin, from Latin, hearth
First Known Use: 1644
[5] Free online dictionary
focal point
n 1. (Physics / General Physics) Also called principal focus the point on the axis of a lens or mirror to which parallel rays of light converge or from which they appear to diverge after refraction or reflection
2. a central point of attention or interest
Selective Attention
In cognitive psychology there are at least two models which describe how visual attention operates. These models may be considered loosely as metaphors which are used to describe internal processes and to generate hypotheses that are falsifiable. Generally speaking, visual attention is thought to operate as a two-stage process.[11] In the first stage, attention is distributed uniformly over the external visual scene and processing of information is performed in parallel. In the second stage, attention is concentrated to a specific area of the visual scene (i.e. it is focused), and processing is performed in a serial fashion.
The first of these models to appear in the literature is the spotlight model. The term "spotlight" was inspired by the work of William James who described attention as having a focus, a margin, and a fringe.[12] The focus is an area that extracts information from the visual scene with a high-resolution, the geometric center of which being where visual attention is directed. Surrounding the focus is the fringe of attention which extracts information in a much more crude fashion (i.e. low-resolution). This fringe extends out to a specified area and this cut-off is called the margin.
[6] Merriam-Webster
Definition of CONCENTRIC
1: having a common center
2: having a common axis : COAXİAL
Origin of CONCENTRIC
Middle English consentrik, from Medieval Latin concentricus, from Latin com- + centrum center
First Known Use: 14th century
[7] AN INTEGRATIVE THEORY OF PREFRONTAL CORTEX FUNCTION
Earl K. Miller, Center for Learning and Memory, RIKEN-MIT Neuroscience Research Center and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT.
Jonathan D. Cohen, Center for the Study of Brain, Mind, and Behavior and Department of Psychology, Princeton
[8]George Bush, Phan Luu and Michael I. Posner
Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex
The cognitive subdivision is part of a distributed attentional network. It maintains strong reciprocal interconnections with
lateral prefrontal cortex (BA 46/9), parietal cortex (BA 7), and premotor and supplementary motor areas6. Various functions
have been ascribed to the ACcd, including modulation of attention or executive functions by influencing sensory or response
selection (or both); monitoring competition, complex motor control, motivation, novelty, error detection and working
memory; and anticipation of cognitively demanding tasks (see Refs 1,3,5,6,14–17 for reviews).
The affective subdivision, by contrast, is connected to the amygdala, periaqueductal gray, nucleus accumbens, hypothalamus,
anterior insula, hippocampus and orbitofrontal cortex6, and has outflow to autonomic, visceromotor and endocrine systems. The ACad is primarily involved in assessing the salience of emotional and motivational information and the regulation of emotional responses5,6,15,18.
[9] AN INTEGRATIVE THEORY OF PREFRONTAL CORTEX FUNCTION
Earl K. Miller, Center for Learning and Memory, RIKEN-MIT Neuroscience Research Center and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT.
Jonathan D. Cohen, Center for the Study of Brain, Mind, and Behavior and Department of Psychology, Princeton
There was no differential activation observed within ACC during this period. In contrast, strong activation was observed in ACC during the period of stimulus presentation and responding. This activity was greater for conflict than congruent stimuli.
