On paying attention

Warren Thorngate

pp. 247-263

in: Leendert Mos (ed), Recent trends in theoretical psychology, Berlin, Springer, 1988

Abstract

Six principles of attentional economics are developed and employed as a means of understanding the possible relations between information produced and information consumed. It is argued that because available information far exceeds available attention, decisions about allocating attention become increasingly difficult and increasingly arbitrary. The consequences of this trend are explored in the context of psychological research, the marketplace of ideas, and the consequences of attentional errors.