ttle importance, comparatively, in our mental
life that we shall not discuss it further.

If attention comes in the second way, following interest, it is called
_nonvoluntary_ or spontaneous attention; if in the third, compelled by
the will, _voluntary_ or active attention. Nonvoluntary attention has
its motive in some object external to consciousness, or else follows a
more or less uncontrolled current of thought which interests us;
voluntary attention is controlled from within--_we_ decide what we shall
attend to instead of letting interesting objects of thought determine it
for us.

INTEREST AND NONVOLUNTARY ATTENTION.--In nonvoluntary attention the
environment largely determines what we shall attend to. All that we have
to do with directing this kind of attention is in developing certain
lines of interest, and then the interesting things attract attention.
The things we see and hear and touch and taste and smell, the things we
like, the things we do and hope to do--these are the determining factors
in our mental life so long as we are giving nonvoluntary attention. Our
attention follows the beckoning of these things as the needle the
magnet. It is no effort to attend to them, but rather the effort would
be to keep from attending to them. Who does not remember reading a
story, perhaps a forbidden one, so interesting that when mother called
up the stairs for us to come down to attend to some duty, we replied,
"Yes, in a minute," and then went on reading! We simply could not stop
at that place. The minute lengthens into ten, and another call startles
us. "Yes, I'm coming;" we turn just one more leaf, and are lost again.
At last comes a third call in tones so imperative that it cannot be
longer ignored, and we lay the book down, but open to the place where we
left off, and where we hope soon to begin further to unravel the
delightful mystery. Was it an effort to attend to the reading? Ah, no!
it took the combined force of our will and of mother's authority to
drag the attention away. This is nonvoluntary attention.

Left to itself, then, attention simply obeys natural laws and follows
the line of least resistance. By far the larger portion of our attention
is of this type. Thought often runs on hour after hour when we are not
conscious of effort or struggle to compel us to cease thinking about
this thing and begin thinking about that. Indeed, it may be doubted
whether this is not the case with some persons for days at