Attention is a …show more content…
In 18th century Christian Wolff pointed out the nature of attention shift in his textbooks ‘Psychologia Emprica’ (1738) and ‘Psychologia Rahalis’ (1740), in which he discussed about voluntary control of attentional processing and the relationship between eye movement and shift of attention (Hatfield, 1998). First scientific investigation of our capacity to shift attention independent of eye movement was conducted by Helmholtz (1867/1925). He constructed an apparatus similar to tachistoscope and continuously fixed his eyes at the central fixation and did not move his eyes from that location. Before momentarily illuminating the display he decided where he wanted to concentrate his attention on. During the brief period of illumination those letters in the area where attention has been shifted were most identifiable. In contrast, letters in the vicinity of ocular fixation were difficult for him to