Attention, distraction & mind-wandering

Attention, distraction & mind-wandering

Dr Sophie Forster - University of Sussex

7:30 for 8:00pm start on Wednesday 19th April

The experience of being distracted when we are trying to concentrate on an important task is frustratingly familiar to most people. What are the causes of distraction and mind wandering? This talk will discuss how the task you are trying to focus on, potential distractions, and personal characteristics interact to determine whether attention will succeed or fail in a given situation. We will also discuss cases in which attention to unexpected and task-irrelevant information may be desirable.

Dr Sophie Forster is a lecturer in Psychology at the University of Sussex. Her research combines cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience methods to study forms of attentional failure that are common to daily life.