FOCUS

Scene and Task

A boat travels through a lush African landscape. The client is confronted with a wide range of different stimuli: screeching birds, flying dragonflies, a ruin on the banks of a river, a waterfall etc. His task is to respond to pre-defined relevant stimuli without letting himself be distracted by the large number of other stimuli.

Theory

Focused attention describes the ability to isolate a segment of reality in order to be able to analyse it more closely. It is particularly important to be able to maintain this focus in the face of distractions and to suppress the interference caused by the simultaneous and automatic processing of information.

Training forms

The FOCUS training program consists of two training forms, each of which has ten difficulty levels:

• The S1 training form requires the client to recognise visual stimuli against a background of distracting stimuli which may be acoustic, visual, or a combination of the two.
• In the S2 training form the task is to detect acoustic stimuli in the face of other stimuli which may likewise be acoustic, visual, or a combination of both.

Difficulty

The difficulty structure of the FOCUS training program is designed to adapt as far as possible to the amount that the client can take in. Thus a client of weak ability will be presented with a low-stimulus environment, while a client of strong ability will be confronted with a large number of distractor stimuli. The number of distractor stimuli presented is carefully graded and the time allowed for identification of a stimulus is adapted to the client’s skill.