PSYCH.

1. The person’s attention was originally focused on something they were really interested in, or into something they enjoyed and liked. For subject one, she is a hard worker and very studious in school, so she was very focus in school and learning. For subject two, he was the exact opposite of subject one; he did not get the best grades in school, and was often focused on drawing doodles all over his papers. Last but not least, subject three. She is a big sports fan, so I noticed that whenever the television was on, she would change the channel to the sports channel, and be very focused and concentrated on the sport that was on.

2. The stimuli that caught subject one’s attention was while she was taking notes, someone knocked on the door and walked in with a note and handed it to the teacher. She watched the visitor until he left the room, and then continued taking notes. For subject two, the stimuli that caught his attention was when the teacher announced we were having a pop quiz. It was actually quite entertaining to watch as subject two’s head shot up from his doodling, and had a look of surprise on his face. He had not known there was a pop quiz coming, and that caught his attention. For subject three, what caught her attention was when someone walked into the room, she turned her head quickly to see who it was, then said, “Dad, will you go get me some pop?”, then turned back to the television to watch more sports.

3. The behavior(s) that indicated that the person was conscious of the stimuli for subject one was when she looked up from her note taking to look at the visitor. For subject two, it was when the teacher announced the pop quiz, and he immediately looked up from the doodling, showing his surprise to the pop quiz. For subject three, the behavior that indicated that she was conscious of the stimuli was when she heard the door swing open from the kitchen, and she glanced over and acknowledged her dad before telling him to get her some pop.

4. People who were nearby to subject one, also looked up from their note taking when the visitor walked into the classroom. Most of them watched the visitor curiously, until he left the room. For subject two, the people around him had one of two reactions; one was a surprised look, and the other was a calm, collected look, showing that they were ready for the pop quiz. For the third subject, they all looked up at the dad as he walked into the room, distracting them from the game. Then they all looked over at subject three as she told her dad to get her some pop.

For the three subjects I used, subject one was a female, at age 17, and is a senior. My observation for this subject was completed in my first hour fashion class. The way I would categorize the type of stimuli that took my subject’s attention away from their previous focus as a distraction because she was very focused on taking notes, then the visitor came in and took her attention away from the note taking. The variables that could have influenced subject one was where she was sitting because she sits in the front of the classroom, right next to the door, and because of this, she can hear and see everyone that comes in, versus if you sit in the back of the classroom, you might not have noticed the visitor come in. The obvious signals that indicated her awareness of the specific stimuli was her looking up. For subject two, he is a 16 year old male senior. My observations were completed in my second hour chemistry class. I would say the type of stimuli that took his attention away from his previous focus was a surprise stimuli because he was very focused on drawing his little doodles all over his paper, but was surprised out of his concentration because he was not ready for the pop quiz. The variables that may have influenced my subject was the reaction of his classmates around him. If most of the reactions were calm, then he might not be as nervous for the pop quiz, but if everyone around him was freaking out about it, it could have influenced him to also be nervous for the quiz. The obvious signals that indicated my subject’s awareness of the specific stimuli was that he looked up from his doodling with a surprised look on his face. For my last subject, she is a 15 year old female sophomore. My observation was completed in the subject’s house, in the living room. I would categorize the type of stimuli that took her attention away from their previous focus also as a distraction because she was very concentrated on the game before her dad walked in and took her attention away from the game. The variables that could have influenced her were where she was sitting. Like subject one, she was sitting very close to the door that her dad walked in from, but if she were sitting on the other end of the couch, she might not have noticed her dad walk in, and would have stayed focused on the game. The obvious signal that indicated her awareness of the specific stimuli was that she looked away from the game, to tell her dad to get her some pop.