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Selective attention refers to one's ability to concentrate on specific goal-oriented tasks, while simultaneously ignoring goal-irrelevant obstacles. Selective attention requires one to actively shift his or her attention. For example, when we drive, we concentrate on certain variables like other cars or pedestrians and then suddenly start to pay attention to oncoming traffic signals. At the same time, selective attention allows one to ignore unnecessary distractions while driving, like a billboard on the side of the road.

Picture Gallery: Examples of Selective Attention