May I have your attention? Testing a subjective attention scale

Files

hdl_135114.pdf (503.82 KB)
  (Published version)

Date

2020

Authors

Welsh, M.

Editors

Advisors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Type:

Conference paper

Citation

Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci 2020), 2020, vol.42, pp.2535-2541

Statement of Responsibility

Matthew B. Welsh

Conference Name

Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci) (29 Jul 2020 - 1 Aug 2020 : virtual online)

Abstract

The concept of ‘attention’ – our ability to focus on particular parts of the world - is a seemingly simple one. Research, however, often driven by clinicians need to diagnose attentional deficits after brain injuries, has demonstrated its complexity. This has resulted in significant testing being required to assess the full range of attentional abilities. Herein, we designed a Subjective Attention Scale, consisting of 15 Likert-scale questions based on five types of attention identified by Sohlberg and Mateer (1989). Preliminary data suggested the scale had good psychometric properties (Cronback’s α > 0.8) and an interpretable factor structure (4 factors; 49% of variance). However, it showed almost no significant correlations with measures from six laboratory tests of attention. Instead, analyses suggest peoples’ subjective beliefs regarding their attentional abilities map more closely onto the Conscientiousness personality trait than those traits identified from clinical work.

School/Discipline

Dissertation Note

Provenance

Description

Access Status

Rights

©2020 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).

License

Call number

Persistent link to this record