In this brief talk, James (1899/1962) explains that there is always a stream of consciousness flowing in the mind, composed of ideas, emotions, desires, etc. There are always some thoughts that are in focus (focal objects) and some that are off in the margins (marginal objects), and these can trade places back and forth.
Surely almost everyone can relate to what James discusses in this chapter, as I know this stream of consciousness always affects me and my ability to concentrate. His discussion of how, even during his talk, “some object of thought, some distant image, may have become the focus on your mental attention even while I am speaking,– your mind, in short, may have wandered from the lecture; and, in that case, the sensations of my face and voice, although not absolutely vanished from your conscious field, may have taken up there a very faint and marginal place” (James, 1899/1962, p. 8). Even while reading this book or writing this blog post, things from the margins are always pushing through to become the focus, even if just for a moment. It may be a noise made by someone nearby or a sudden panicked thought of whether or not I turned off the oven, but these thoughts or feelings momentarily pull my attention from the task at hand. This is a natural occurrence, and nothing is ever going to stop this. Even when I am doing something I enjoy, I can still be interrupted by my own thoughts and feelings. I do not think the focus should be on preventing these lapses of inattention, but instead, to make sure that they do not last long, and that the attention is pulled back to the content. So what can teachers or course designers do to try to avoid losing their student’s attention, but in case it does occur, to be able to pull that attention back as quickly and easily as possible?
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