Book: Concentration: Staying Focused in Times of Distraction
Short review and extended notes
Concentration: Staying Focused in Times of Distraction, by Stefan Van der Stigchel a Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Utrecht University, is full of great information, but it's far from a great book. The biggest issues I had was a disparity between how it was marketed and its reality, and the quality of the writing.
This book feels like it is marketed as a how-to, one that will help you stay focused in a world of cell phones and social media. Instead it is a collection of essays, some much longer than others, all loosely centered around the idea of concentration. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 are the most focused on how to deal with the distractions of modern life, but a chapter on distracted driving was completely unexpected and barely connected to the rest of the book (though it's a very important topic and made me less likely to pick up my phone in the car). There are also short asides, a page or two in length, that could have been cut or expanded, but the length they are feels like piquing your interest then immediately abandoning the subject. The biggest offender, for me, was an aside on research on your subconscious working on a problem while you are focused on other things. Apparently that's not a thing. Instead you're getting fresh perspective on a problem when your mind comes back to it. Is that why I get the eureka feeling? I don't know, this interesting area of research was raised and dismissed in a page.
Perhaps it's because the book was translated, but the flow and beauty of the words and sentences was lacking (though, as someone coming back to writing after a long absence, I'm empathetic). The quality of the writing was not so bad that it distracted, but it was never a pure joy either.
There's more than enough interesting information in the book for me to recommend it to someone who is looking for a deeper take on concentration. But, if you're just looking for a really good read, there are better places to look.
1: Why is it difficult to concentrate?
internal memory uses lots of energy, has limited capacity & is often unreliable
because of this we often use our external environment to store information (write down notes, keep keys and wallet in same place when we get home)
Working memory is crucial for concentration and focus b/c it is always used when doing any specific task
Only what we attend to (put our attention on it) can access working memory
information from long term memory can also be used in working memory
keeping information in working memory can lead to it being put into long term memory, but you can't always easily access what is in long term memory (even if you know it's there) and you can't always be sure it is accurate
Irrelevant information can push relevant information out of working memory, making you lose your concentration (phone notifications, etc)
Different people have different sizes of working memory. Training can increase your working memory, but there is no absolute guarantee how much it will help any individual
chunking can help you remember things easier (the letters USANATONASA are easier to remember when you chunk it into easily remembered sets - USA NATO NASA)
working memory has 2 storage systems: the visuospatial sketchpad and the phonological loop
the phonological loop keeps auditory and linguistic information (stuff you hear, sounds and spoken word)
visuospatial sketch keeps track of where things are in space - you can also 'edit' information in the visuospatial sketch (like rotating objects in your mind)
phonological & visuospatial systems work independently & don't interrupt each other
Men, on average, are better at solving spatial problems - we don't know if this is biological or cultural/trained
2 different types of attention, voluntary and involuntary. Involuntary can interrupt voluntary, which is good if it is truly important (a hurt, crying child) but bad if it is not important (phone notifications)
worries and anxiety can push out relevant information from working memory and make it harder for us to concentrate b/c information we need has been pushed out
A study found that writing down worries before a test made participants do better on the test. Seems like it got those worries out of working memory and into an external storage device
2: When and when not to multitask
We cannot do two, or more, things at the same time that require the working memory. The illusion of multi-tasking is just switching between things.
Voluntary switching of tasks allows a person to clear their working memory, clearing it for the next task. Involuntary distractions are, in part, so vexing because part of our old task is still hanging out in working memory.
Some people have lower switching costs for tasks, they can switch easier.
People who consume a lot of mutlimedia (on smartphones and computers) have been found to have higher switching costs, are more easily distracted, and have worse short term memories
In a study of office workers, workers were found to be interrupted, on average, every 11 minutes & that it took an average of 25 minutes to return to the original task.
Not all the switches were involuntary (due to outside interference), many workers reported that they felt that different priorities force them to switch tasks - a lot of this was checking email, slack, etc
Interruptions may not lead to longer time spent on a task (maybe people are rushing b/c they feel behind). Interruptions do lead to stress and frustration.
multitasking during learning makes recall of the learned information more difficult
Most students are not spending more than 3-5 minutes on a task. Social media and chat messages are main interruptors. Heavy social media use is associated with poorer academic performance
This and other similar studies only show correlation. Poor academic performance may lead to heavy social media use, or there may be a third factor that influences the first two.
background music can be used and not require task switching - if it is truly background music & isn't something you are paying much attention to.
3: The Sender - How do you hold someone's attention
we can spend less time attending to difficult tasks or activities
Too much arousal (stress) can impede performance, as can too little arousal (boredom)
How much time a person can attend to something (like a lecture or video) depends on how interesting and important it is to the person & how difficult it is.
Best to take a break when concentration is declining
A 'tech break' can allow people a chance to take a break from what they are focused on & lessens worries that they are missing out on something important (like emails or text messages).
To be a good break, a tech break needs to be relatively short - no more than 15 minutes. As little as 1 minute can have very positive results
It is a presenter's duty to try to keep arousal high (make the presentation interesting), one way to do this is to introduce variety into the presentation & at the right time (add a video demonstrating a difficult concept after spending time lecturing about it)
4: The Receiver - How can you improve your concentration
There is a network in the brain that starts working when you aren't working on anything in particular. It's called the 'default network' because it is on by default
concentration is hard, in part, because you have to suppress the default network
People are less happy when daydreaming than when working on something
Daydreaming is correlated with lower working memory capacity & lower scores on IQ tests
Promised rewards inhibits daydreaming
Daydreaming benefits: time to focus on yourself & future plans; makes boring tasks better - may be good to let yourself be bored & daydream
The 'unconscious' mind cannot solve problems. The experience of the unconscious mind solving a problem probably comes from taking a break & coming at the problem from a new perspective
Nature, even just pictures of nature, can have a restorative effect on attention
New difficult tasks - like learning the violin - can only be focused on for a short period of time per day & still be effective (violin - about an hour). As people become experts, they can spend more time practicing (they have trained their concentration in that area)
smartphone concentration training apps don't help you learn to concentrate on anything other than that app
Meditation training seems to be one of the few activities that can lead to better concentration across tasks. Both focused attention meditation and meditation that asks you to notice the things you think, hear, feel without reacting.
Being on call all the time, like many modern knowledge workers feel, may be bad in a lot of ways. A study where workers were required to completely shut off from work communication for one night a week led to happier, refreshed workers who felt better about their work & communication with their team. There is some evidence that what they produced may have been better too.
Being physically fit will improve your concentration
5: The importance of concentration in traffic
Concentration is very important when driving.
There have been more auto accidents since 2017 (at least in the Netherlands), and some of this may be attributable to increased cell phone usage
Hands free phone calls are not safer than holding your phone b/c your attention is on the phone call either way
Phone conversations while driving are more dangerous than conversations with passengers - passengers can see when the driver is focusing, or needs to focus, on the road & will usually pause the conversation accordingly. This cannot happen on a phone
A phone conversation can create as poor driving performance as being drunk
Having a passenger in the car (in a study between 1990 and 1999) reduced the chances of being in an accident
Walking while using a phone & while using headphones is more dangerous b/c of reduced concentration & reduced input
6: The Future: Are we all going stir-crazy?
Studies that have found a correlation between TV viewing behavior and hyperactivity, but the reports on those studies often says that watching more TV causes hyperactivity. Hyperactive kids might end up watching more TV
Concentration is like a muscle, you can train it to get it stronger. Some people will have a higher ceiling or a lower floor of what is possible for their concentration