The more you embrace in the attention the less penetrating it will be. Do not try to take in the whole picture or object all the time, but change from one detail to another, centering the attention on one at a time and thus building the perfect whole.
Arouse Your Interest
Always become interested in the thing to which you are striving to direct your attention. Boys have no difficulty in paying close attention and remembering the ball score and the batting average of the players but to ask them to pay as strict attention to a lecture on an uninteresting subject is asking the impossible. The compelling element of interest has been taken away.
This is a great lesson for all parents and teachers; if the results of fixed attention are to be expected, the interest must be supplied and maintained, by natural or imaginary means.
Expectant Attention
Prolonged expectancy is a great aid to holding the attention. The element of curiosity is a great impelling force in the child and even in adult life. This can be taken advantage of in prolonging the attention.
The element of expectancy also affects the results of attention. The thing you expect is the thing most easily found. If you wish to aid a friend who is searching for a lost article you first learn as nearly as possible just what it looks like, so that you may know what you are expected to find.
Exercise.—In the following lines count all the 5s.
5 0 3 4 2 6 5 7 4 6 7 8 9 8 0 7 6 8 7 5 4 3 5 7 6 5 4 3 7