we
saw that consciousness is not distributed evenly over the whole field,
but "piled up," now on this object of thought, now on that, in obedience
to interest or necessity. _The concentration of the mind's energy on one
object of thought is attention._

THE NATURE OF ATTENTION.--Everyone knows what it is to attend. The story
so fascinating that we cannot leave it, the critical points in a game,
the interesting sermon or lecture, the sparkling conversation--all these
compel our attention. So completely is our mind's energy centered on
them and withdrawn from other things that we are scarcely aware of what
is going on about us.

We are also familiar with another kind of attention. For we all have
read the dull story, watched the slow game, listened to the lecture or
sermon that drags, and taken part in conversation that was a bore. We
gave these things our attention, but only with effort. Our mind's energy
seemed to center on anything rather than the matter in hand. A thousand
objects from outside enticed us away, and it required the frequent
"mental jerk" to bring us to the subject in hand. And when brought back
to our thought problem we felt the constant "tug" of mind to be free
again.

NORMAL CONSCIOUSNESS ALWAYS IN A STATE OF ATTENTION.--But this very
effort of the mind to free itself from one object of thought that it may
busy itself with another is _because attention is solicited by this
other_. Some object in our field of consciousness is always exerting an
appeal for attention; and to attend _to_ one thing is always to attend
_away from_ a multitude of other things upon which the thought might
rest. We may therefore say that attention is constantly _selecting_ in
our stream of thought those aspects that are to receive emphasis and
consideration. From moment to moment it determines the points at which
our mental energy shall be centered.

2. THE EFFECTS OF ATTENTION

ATTENTION MAKES ITS OBJECT CLEAR AND DEFINITE.--Whatever attention
centers upon stands out sharp and clear in consciousness. Whether it be
a bit of memory, an "air-castle," a sensation from an aching tooth, the
reasoning on an algebraic formula, a choice which we are making, the
setting of an emotion--whatever be the object to which we are attending,
that object is illumined and made to stand out from its fellows as the
one prominent thing in the mind's eye while the attention rests on it.
It is like the one building which the searchlight pick