Summary
Students will identify what is selective attention through an auditory simulation and a video simulation. Students will brainstorm the positive and negative consequences of selective attention. Students will investigate the negative effects of selective attention such as texting and driving.
Essential Question(s)
What is selective attention? What are the positive and negative effects of selective attention? How does selective attention, like texting, affect driving?
Snapshot
Engage
Students are introduced to the term "selective attention" and begin drafting a definition of selective attention with a partner.
Explore
Students explore the concept of selective attention further through watching a short video clip. After a general discussion, they refine their definition of selective attention and brainstorm the positive and negative consequences with selective attention.
Explain
Students read two articles and look at an info graphic about texting and driving. Students will create GIST statements about what they read. Students share the information learned by creating an info graphic or PSA poster about texting and driving.
Extend
Students create a survey to learn the demographics of how much and how often their high school's students text and drive.
Evaluate
The definition of selective attention, GIST statements, and the PSA poster or Info graphic serve as assessments.
Materials
Texting While Driving Infographic (attached)
The Dangerous Psychology of Texting While Driving handout (attached)
Trying to Hit the Brakes on Texting While Driving (attached)
Poster materials or access to Piktochart website for infographics
Student devices with internet access (optional)
Engage
The teacher tells the students he or she wants to conduct an experiment. The teacher asks students to close their eyes and be silent for a 90 seconds. They are just to listen with their eyes closed. After the 90 seconds have passed, they will be asked to write down all that they hear.
After the 90 seconds have passed, ask students to silently write down everything they heard without any discussion. Students will then stand up and form a group of 3 students. Have students discuss with their small group, the following questions:
Tell your group what you heard during the 90 seconds.
Were these things you have heard before?
If there was something that you had NOT heard before, why do you think you had NOT heard it previously?
Ask students to return to their seats and discuss these questions as a class.
Explore
Introduce the term "selective attention" and ask students how that term might apply to the experiment conducted previously.
Play the “The Monkey Business Illusion” video and stop it when the answer is shown of "16 passes". Now ask students if they noticed anything else in the video. Have all students share. Allow all answers but do not share your knowledge about the video further. Then play the rest of the video.
After both the listening activity and the Monkey Business Illusion video, ask students to write a definition of "selective attention" with a partner. Then have the partners combine with another group, refine or combine their definition to one. Have groups of 4 share their definitions. You may wish to identify one class definition from the various submissions either through voting or by combining what students believe are the best definitions.
Explain
What are the positive and negative effects of selective attention? Pose this question to the student groups of 4. Ask them to fold a piece of notebook paper in half lengthwise or "hot dog" style. Have them brainstorm both the positive effects of selective attention and the negative effects of selective attention. Share all lists through a class discussion.
Tell students that they will be looking at one "negative effect" of selective attention-- when students text and drive. The student groups look at 3 documents related to texting and driving — 2 news articles and one info graphic. Student groups will create a GIST statement in their own words for EACH reading selection. The teacher may wish to select only one of the news articles provided in the interest of time.
Have student groups share their summaries in a round robin fashion for each news article read and the info graphic.
Using the GIST statements, students create a PSA poster on the dangers of texting and driving to hang in the hallways or they create an Info graphic of their own using PiktoChart.
Extend
How often are your peers texting and driving? What would encourage them to stop? As an extension activity, have students create a student poll or survey that includes information learned from this lesson. Free surveys can be created at Survey Monkey.
Have them brainstorm 7 to 10 possible questions in their groups.
All groups share questions and combine similar ones.
Students fist vote from 1 to 5, all questions with a 5 receiving the most votes.
The process continues to narrow down in the same manner as number #3, until the top five to six most important questions are revealed
The selected questions become the student survey that is given to all students via Survey Monkey. You may wish to divide your class or classes into three groups: 1) one group will solicit students to take the survey at lunch or present it to other classes 2) another group compiles the information and a 3) third group creates charts or an info graphic of the information compiled.
Evaluate
The definition of selective attention, the GIST summaries, the poster or Info graphic product can all serve as assessments. The Extend activity is optional.
Resources
A further video on misdirection and attention is a Ted Talk at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZGY0wPAnus
K20 Center. (n.d.). PiktoChart. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/2394
Simons, Daniel. (2010, April 28). The Monkey Business Illusion [Video]. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY
