Discovery News
Week of January 19
Weekly News
Tuesday- Professional Development- 7:30-11:00 AM at Discovery / 12:00-3:30 PM Choices (Check out your options in The Notebook)
Wednesday- EL Meeting
Thursday- AFRICAN AMERICA Performance by the Mixed Blood Theater - Grades 3-5 10:45-11:30 AM
Friday
Upcoming Events
January 27th- Family STEM Night 5:00-7:00 PM
January 30th- Pizza with the Principal 11:00 AM
Happy Birthday!
Steve Lage 1/22
From Perception to Attention
Children are often criticized for “not paying attention.” There is no such thing as not paying attention; the brain is always paying attention to something. Attention is selective.
What are the factors that influence whether a stimulus is kept or dropped?
One key component in the filtering process is whether the incoming stimulus is different from what we are used to seeing – whether it is novel. Our brains today are still programmed to pay attention to the unusual.
However, a characteristic of novelty that makes it difficult to employ in a daily basis is the brain’s tendency toward habituation.
The intensity of stimuli is another factor that affects attention.
A third factor influencing attention is movement.