Attention: Distraction, Daydreaming and Diversity (C8895)
15 credits, Level 6
Autumn teaching
The ability to control and focus attention can deeply impact our daily lives. This impact ranges from our academic performance to our personal safety during driving.
On this module, you’ll explore:
- why some people appear find it easier to avoid distraction
- why some people find their attention powerfully drawn to particular things
- theories on attention regarding the potential causes of attention differences
- how to apply this theory to explore different factors of attention – including affective traits, addiction, cultural differences and neurodiversity
- research skills, such as the critically analysing research studies in the field.
Teaching
100%: Practical (Workshop)
Assessment
10%: Coursework (Portfolio, Test)
90%: Written assessment (Essay)
Contact hours and workload
This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.
We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2025/26. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.
We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.
Courses
This module is offered on the following courses: