Attentional Bias
As soon as his work shift ends, Jaime rushes to pick up his children from school. He shepherds them to pick up a prescription and buy groceries. When they get home, it’s time to make dinner, pay bills, and throw in a load of laundry. Every so often, Jaime’s mind drifts to the $750 repair his car needs.
Late at night, Jaime suddenly remembers he’d agreed to call his son’s teacher to discuss problems the boy was having in class. Jaime had completely forgotten about the call as his attention was pulled from task to urgent task.
Jaime’s oversight can be attributed to attentional bias, or the tendency to pay attention to some things at the expense of others.
Why it’s relevant to parent engagement:
Like all individuals, parents must divide a limited amount of attention among the many decisions in their life. Every day, parents shuffle childcare, transportation, food shopping, housework, errands, bills, social obligations, and more—often while working full- or part-time jobs.
The tasks of caring for and investing in children may seem simple on their own. How hard can it be to read together for 15 minutes a day or return a quick phone call from a teacher? But in the context of a dozen other demands, even small responsibilities may be missed.
Low-income parents, who face the additional burden of financial stressors and emotional demands, may be particularly susceptible to attentional bias.
Evidence:
When participants in one study were asked to count the number of passes made in a basketball video, many didn’t notice a man in a gorilla suit conspicuously make his way across the screen.
Even professionals aren’t immune to attentional bias. The majority of radiologists reviewing chest x-rays for cancer signs missed a large gorilla image that experimenters had inserted into the scans.
People pay particular attention to threatening or anxiety-inducing stimuli. For example, low-income individuals perform worse on tests of fluid intelligence and executive function when they are thinking about a costly car repair (vs. a small car repair). Wealthier individuals do not exhibit the same behavior—their scores on these tests remain the same whether they are considering a large or small repair bill, presumably because they are less threatened by the potential cost.
Attentional bias also directs attention to things people lack. Healthy young men participating in a study of hunger during World War II developed an intense focus on food. They spent their free time reading recipes and dreaming of opening restaurants. When watching movies, they had trouble remembering plot details but easily recollected food items pictured in the scenes.
At
:
The team considered attentional bias in a project that aimed to increase parent involvement with GRS, a play-based educational curriculum currently being implemented in New York City Head Start classrooms.
To address limited attention, parents received personalized, partially handwritten invitations to the GRS kickoff meeting. These initial invitations were followed by text message reminders.
Once the program began, participating parents received regular text messages with creative tips for engaging in GRS activities with their children. The text messages were strategically scheduled to redirect parents’ attention to spending time with their children at opportune times during the day (e.g., right after school, after dinner).
As soon as his work shift ends, Jaime rushes to pick up his children from school. He shepherds them to pick up a prescription and buy groceries. When they get home, it’s time to make dinner, pay bills, and throw in a load of laundry. Every so often, Jaime’s mind drifts to the $750 repair his car needs.
Late at night, Jaime suddenly remembers he’d agreed to call his son’s teacher to discuss problems the boy was having in class. Jaime had completely forgotten about the call as his attention was pulled from task to urgent task.
Jaime’s oversight can be attributed to attentional bias, or the tendency to pay attention to some things at the expense of others.
Why it’s relevant to parent engagement:
Like all individuals, parents must divide a limited amount of attention among the many decisions in their life. Every day, parents shuffle childcare, transportation, food shopping, housework, errands, bills, social obligations, and more—often while working full- or part-time jobs.
The tasks of caring for and investing in children may seem simple on their own. How hard can it be to read together for 15 minutes a day or return a quick phone call from a teacher? But in the context of a dozen other demands, even small responsibilities may be missed.
Low-income parents, who face the additional burden of financial stressors and emotional demands, may be particularly susceptible to attentional bias.
Evidence:
When participants in one study were asked to count the number of passes made in a basketball video, many didn’t notice a man in a gorilla suit conspicuously make his way across the screen.
1
Simons, D. J., & Chabris, C. F. (1999). Gorillas in our midst: Sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events. Perception, 28(9), 1059-1074.
Similarly, people engaged in phone conversations missed a clown passing them on a unicycle.
2
Hyman, I. E., Jr., Boss, S. M., Wise, B. M., McKenzie, K. E., & Caggiano, J. M. (2010). Did you see the unicycling clown? Inattentional blindness while walking and talking on a cell phone. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24(5), 597-607.
Even professionals aren’t immune to attentional bias. The majority of radiologists reviewing chest x-rays for cancer signs missed a large gorilla image that experimenters had inserted into the scans.
3
Drew, T., Võ, M. L. H., & Wolfe, J. M. (2013). The invisible gorilla strikes again: Sustained inattentional blindness in expert observers. Psychological Science, 24(9), 1848-1853.
People pay particular attention to threatening or anxiety-inducing stimuli. For example, low-income individuals perform worse on tests of fluid intelligence and executive function when they are thinking about a costly car repair (vs. a small car repair). Wealthier individuals do not exhibit the same behavior—their scores on these tests remain the same whether they are considering a large or small repair bill, presumably because they are less threatened by the potential cost.
4
Mani, A., Mullainathan, S., Shafir, E., & Zhao, J. (2013). Poverty impedes cognitive function. Science, 341(6149), 976-980.
Similarly, sugarcane farmers in India performed better on tests of intelligence after harvesting and selling their crops (thus relieving their immediate financial concerns) than they did before the harvest.
5
Mani, A., Mullainathan, S., Shafir, E., & Zhao, J. (2013). Poverty impedes cognitive function. Science, 341(6149), 976-980.
Attentional bias also directs attention to things people lack. Healthy young men participating in a study of hunger during World War II developed an intense focus on food. They spent their free time reading recipes and dreaming of opening restaurants. When watching movies, they had trouble remembering plot details but easily recollected food items pictured in the scenes.
6
Kalm, L. M., & Semba, R. D. (2005). They starved so that others be better fed: Remembering Ancel Keys and the Minnesota experiment. The Journal of Nutrition, 135(6), 1347-1352.
Similarly, dieters tend to pay special attention to food-related stimuli
7
Mullainathan, S., & Shafir, E. (2013). Scarcity: Why having too little means so much. New York, NY: Macmillan.
, and people who are thirsty more quickly recognize and recall thirst-related words.
8
Aarts, H., Dijksterhuis, A., & De Vries, P. (2001). On the psychology of drinking: Being thirsty and perceptually ready. British Journal of Psychology, 92(4), 631-642.
At
:
The
team considered attentional bias in a project that aimed to increase parent involvement with GRS, a play-based educational curriculum currently being implemented in New York City Head Start classrooms.
To address limited attention, parents received personalized, partially handwritten invitations to the GRS kickoff meeting. These initial invitations were followed by text message reminders.
Once the program began, participating parents received regular text messages with creative tips for engaging in GRS activities with their children. The text messages were strategically scheduled to redirect parents’ attention to spending time with their children at opportune times during the day (e.g., right after school, after dinner).