Can We Split Our Attention?

Summer 2012

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RESEARCH
Getting Hotter All the Time
Israeli Cinema: Perverting the Image of Holocaust Survivors
Can We Split Our Attention?
Violent Digital Games: Are They Just a Game?
Video Screening for ADD
The Sun's Cycles

STUDENTS & GRADUATES
Blind Date with the Open University
"The Open University: A Superior Training Ground for Professional Success"
From Tractor Driver to Master's Degree
A Family Affair

TECHNOLOGY
Digital University: Mobile Digital Books Project
Is Technology Tromping the ABC's?

INITIATIVES - LANGUAGE
Arabic-Speaking Students Study in Arabic
Sao Paulo University Students Learn About Israeli Society in Spanish

EVENTS
Graduation Ceremonies
The 7th Chais Conference
Evening in Honor of Dov Lautman
Visit by NASA Astronaut, William S. McArthur, Jr.
Exhibition: "Fireworks Blossoming in the Winter"
"Psychic Numbing of Genocide"

INTERNATIONAL
Conference at Cambridge University
Cambridge in Ra'anana
American Friends: The Open University Foundation

HIGHLIGHTS
Dr. Milly Perry
Prof. Yoav Yair
Prof. Yoram Eshet
Aviel Atias
Laurence Berry
Edna Tal
SuperBrands Israel
Prof. Judith Gal-Ezer
Co-editors: Elissa Allerhand, Ilene Bloch-Levy Photographer: Gideon Markowitz Graphic Designer: Laura Grinberg Web Manager: Batsheva Engelberg-Behr Web Master: Sonia Pechersky

RESEARCH
Can We Split Our Attention? The ability to divide the focus of one's attention to parallel tasks has little to do with one's level of intelligence or with one's education or training. Rather, it's about how our brains process information. For Dr. Nurit Gronau, Senior Faculty Member at the Open University's Department of Education and Psychology, her latest research sheds new light on how our brains filter information, how they prioritize what we are seeing and hearing, and how we digest our surroundings. Adding to an already controversial field, Dr. Gronau also has much to say on the issue of multi-tasking. For the past 13 years, Dr. Nurit Gronau, Senior Faculty Member at the Open University's Department of Education and Psychology, has been focusing her research studies on what is called the "field of attention," and specifically on visual attention: our ability to focus on specific stimuli and filter out irrelevant stimuli. This is crucial, because otherwise we would be flooded with stimuli and therefore incapable of functioning on any level. Thus, our brains process within a limited area of the visual field, which is called the "field of attention." Dr. Gronau's first encounter with the "field of attention" was during her Ph.D. studies at the Hebrew University under the supervision of Prof. Gershon Ben-Shakhar (former President of the Open University) and Prof. Asher Cohen. Her subject matter was the phenomena of the so-called 'cocktail party effect.' You are talking to someone in a room full of other people, but somewhere across the room someone mentions your name. Your ears perk up. How do you explain that? And, can you continue to give your full attention to the individual with whom you are speaking? Do We Pay Attention to Our Surroundings? "On the one hand," Dr. Nurit Gronau explains, "our brains are very efficient, so you can pay attention to your surroundings while giving the individual your complete attention. On the other hand, if there is something highly relevant to you – like your name – or if you're searching for something specific – such as your child who is wearing a baseball cap and has disappeared from your line of vision – anyone wearing a baseball cap will capture your attention." In Dr. Gronau's area of studies, 'attention' as we know it, has a special meaning. "In the visual field, we are talking about being able to process different types of visuals," Dr. Gronau continues "we can analyze the colors surrounding us, and if there's something moving, we are also able to process this. But, to be able to specifically recognize and understand what we are seeing, for this we need attention." So, attention is really our ability to filter out irrelevant stimuli, focus on relevant stimuli, understand what we are seeing, and then combine the seeing and the understanding. It's a complex process which has captured Dr. Gronau's 'attention' and has now focused her research on how attention affects visual object processing (combining her post-doctoral studies with her doctoral studies.) Page: 1 2

RESEARCH

Can We Split Our Attention?

The ability to divide the focus of one's attention to parallel tasks has little to do with one's level of intelligence or with one's education or training. Rather, it's about how our brains process information. For Dr. Nurit Gronau, Senior Faculty Member at the Open University's Department of Education and Psychology, her latest research sheds new light on how our brains filter information, how they prioritize what we are seeing and hearing, and how we digest our surroundings. Adding to an already controversial field, Dr. Gronau also has much to say on the issue of multi-tasking.

For the past 13 years, Dr. Nurit Gronau, Senior Faculty Member at the Open University's Department of Education and Psychology, has been focusing her research studies on what is called the "field of attention," and specifically on visual attention: our ability to focus on specific stimuli and filter out irrelevant stimuli. This is crucial, because otherwise we would be flooded with stimuli and therefore incapable of functioning on any level. Thus, our brains process within a limited area of the visual field, which is called the "field of attention."

Dr. Gronau's first encounter with the "field of attention" was during her Ph.D. studies at the Hebrew University under the supervision of Prof. Gershon Ben-Shakhar (former President of the Open University) and Prof. Asher Cohen. Her subject matter was the phenomena of the so-called 'cocktail party effect.' You are talking to someone in a room full of other people, but somewhere across the room someone mentions your name. Your ears perk up. How do you explain that? And, can you continue to give your full attention to the individual with whom you are speaking?

Do We Pay Attention to Our Surroundings?

"On the one hand," Dr. Nurit Gronau explains, "our brains are very efficient, so you can pay attention to your surroundings while giving the individual your complete attention. On the other hand, if there is something highly relevant to you – like your name – or if you're searching for something specific – such as your child who is wearing a baseball cap and has disappeared from your line of vision – anyone wearing a baseball cap will capture your attention."

In Dr. Gronau's area of studies, 'attention' as we know it, has a special meaning. "In the visual field, we are talking about being able to process different types of visuals," Dr. Gronau continues "we can analyze the colors surrounding us, and if there's something moving, we are also able to process this. But, to be able to specifically recognize and understand what we are seeing, for this we need attention." So, attention is really our ability to filter out irrelevant stimuli, focus on relevant stimuli, understand what we are seeing, and then combine the seeing and the understanding.

It's a complex process which has captured Dr. Gronau's 'attention' and has now focused her research on how attention affects visual object processing (combining her post-doctoral studies with her doctoral studies.)

Page: 1 2