Imagine, you are sitting in a cafe and do not deliberately look at the person sitting at a nearby table. You are not even interested in his personality . Without even noticing, you are watching what he reads, what he is wearing, whether his shoes are cleaned, whether his hands are groomed. In this case, your attention is involuntary for the reason that you did not set out to learn as much as possible about this person. The most interesting is that this is far from the only clear example that can be given, explaining what is involuntary or unintentional attention. For example, you walk around the park, and not far from you the branch twitched - you immediately turn your head toward the sound that has arisen.
Experts believe that such attention has arisen in the process of evolution and its main goal is to take care of your survival on land full of dangers.
Than involuntary attention differs from an arbitrary one?
The first and one of the most important differences is the appearance of the orienting reflex. With unintentional attention, you do not need to consciously force yourself to do something. So, we gladly get lost in our imagination when we read a favorite book or completely focus our attention on viewing an incredibly interesting film.
In the case when we have to sit down for an unloved occupation, we understand that we do not want to do this, but we realize how much its implementation is necessary. The second option is what is called arbitrary attention.
What causes involuntary attention?
First of all, it is worth noting that the main source of this kind of attention is new phenomena and objects. What is stereotyped and ordinary can not cause it. In addition, the more colorful the source of involuntary attention, the more it has some connection with the past of a person, the greater the likelihood that it will attract the attention of a person for a long time.
The most interesting is that, depending on our condition, the same external stimuli affect people in different ways. The object of involuntary attention with ease becomes something that in some way is related to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of our needs. The latter can include material (any purchases), organic (the desire to eat, warm), spiritual (the desire to like your beloved person, understand your own "I") needs.