...non-voluntary, effortless; or /) Active and voluntary. Voluntary attention is always derived. ... [I 416-420] There is no such thing as voluntary attention sustained for more than a few seconds at a time. ... [I 420-421] No one can possibly attend continuously to an object that does not change. ... [I 421-422]...

...to attend to an object except for the sake of some remote interest which the effort will serve"; and "There is no such thing as voluntary attention sustained...successive efforts which bring back the topic to the mind. No one can possibly attend continuously to an object that does not change." t James's distinction between...

...and actions. The next question, of course, is "How do we manage that?" Fundamentals of ConZentration What is called sustained voluntary attention is a repetition of successive efforts which brings back the topic to this mind. —William James We learn to sustain attention just like we learn...

...observation when he writes, "No one can possibly attend continuously to an object that does not change";21 "what is called sustained voluntary attention is a...successive efforts which bring back the topic to the mind";22 and the "conditio sine qua non of sustained attention to a given topic of thought is that...

...qualification. And the next statement of James's is also one which would fit in with Ribot's position : There is no such thing as voluntary attention sustained for more than a few seconds at a time.* James's contention is that if we seem to be voluntarily attending for more than a few seconds this...

...conscious of the words of Professor James, which are especially true in the case of the young child: "There is no such thing as voluntary attention sustained for more than a few seconds at a time; voluntary attention is a repetition of successive efforts which bring back the topic to the mind. '...