When we “pay attention” to a thing, the consciousness is narrowed
down to a point, as it were, and concentrated like the beam of a
searchlight. The greater the degree of attention, the more this
narrowing process takes place, until the subject may be lost to all
save the immediate object of his inward study. Attention may be either
voluntary or involuntary; we may read a book with deep interest, or
stand fascinated by some horrible spectacle, from which we are unable
to avert our eyes. We may pay attention to objects of sense, or to
ideal or represented objects (intellectual attention). Attention may
also be connected with some sense (sight, hearing, etc.); or may
be purely psychical, as in cases of meditation, etc. Attention may
be stimulated by associating the subject-matter with something of
interest, or by drawing analogies. A person will always pay attention
to something that interests him. The practical importance of this law
should be utilized by all teachers, for the child’s education would
proceed by leaps and bounds were due advantage taken of these facts.