Attention's the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things. Examples include listening carefully to what someone's saying while ignoring other conversations in a room (the cocktail party effect) or listening to a cell phone conversation while driving a car. Attention's one of the most intensely studied topics within psychology and cognitive neuroscience. William James, in his textbook Principles of Psychology, remarked: History o… (More on Attention)