| 释义 |
attention|əˈtɛnʃən|
[ad. L. attentiōn-em, n. of action f. attendĕre to attend. Used by Chaucer in transl. from Latin, then not found till c 1600; not in Fr. till 16th c.]
1. a. The action, fact, or state of attending or giving heed; earnest direction of the mind, consideration, or regard; esp. in phr. to pay attention or give attention. The mental power or faculty of attending; esp. with attract, call, draw, arrest, fix, etc.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. ii. i. 29 After þat she hadde gadred..myn attencioun she seide þus. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 6 The tongues of dying men Inforce attention. 1667Milton P.L. i. 618 Attention held them mute. 1771Junius Lett. xlix. 253 The attention I should have paid to your failings. 1871Smiles Charac. i. (1876) 21 They still arrest the attention. 1878Seeley Stein III. 478 He marked with attention all that appeared from other pens.
b. Metaph. (See quot.)
1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xix. (1695) 119 When the Ideas that offer themselves are taken notice of, and, as it were, registred in the Memory, it is Attention. 1762Kames Elem. Crit. (1833) 483 Attention is that state of mind which prepares one to receive impression. 1838Sir W. Hamilton Logic xxx. II. 136 Attention is the voluntary direction of the mind upon an object, with the intention of fully apprehending it.
2. Practical consideration, observant care, notice.
1741Chesterfield Lett. 77 I. 213 They have attention to every thing, and always mind what they are about. 1816F. H. Naylor Hist. Germ. I. ii. xv. 775 note, To soften the rude manners of an uncultivated people by a benignant attention to their morals. 1882Daily Tel. 4 May (Markets), Oats met with a moderate amount of attention at Monday's prices.
3. The action of attending to the comfort and pleasure of others; ceremonious politeness, courtesy. Often in pl. spec. to pay attention or one's attention to: to court.
1752Chesterfield Lett. 285 III. 305 Nice and scrupulous, in points of ceremony, respect, and attention. 1774Ibid. 26. I. 96 A well-bred man..takes care that his attentions for you be not troublesome. 1849C. Brontë Shirley ii. 18 To ‘pay attention,’ as they say, to some young lady. 1855Prescott Philip II, i. ii. 25 Philip received all the attentions which an elegant hospitality could devise.
†4. A matter of attention, a consideration. rare.
1784J. Barry Lect. Art iv. (1848) 156 Distances, lines, angles, and other mechanical subordinate attentions. Ibid. v. 185 The chiaroscuro and the other attentions of the composition should be calculated.
5. a. ‘A cautionary word used as a preparative to any particular exercise or manœuvre.’ C. James Mil. Dict. to come to attention: to assume a prepared military attitude; so to stand at attention.
1792Rules & Regs. for Formations of H.M.'s Forces 6 Upon the word Attention, no one shall have materially lost his dressing in the line. 1820Combe (Dr. Syntax) Consol. i. 145 He attention's look display'd As he was wont on war's parade. 1833Reg. Instr. Cavalry i. 10 On the word Attention, the hands are to fall smartly upon the outside of the thighs; the right heel to be brought up in a line with the left; and the proper unconstrained position of a soldier..resumed. 1870Daily News 1 Oct., Yonder sergeant of Zouaves..comes promptly to attention when an officer addresses him.
b. to stand (at, to) attention: to stand in the military attitude assumed at the word of command ‘Attention!’ Also to draw oneself up, spring, etc., to attention.
1859G. J. Whyte-Melville Holmby House (1860) xviii. 276 He..stood gaunt and dripping at ‘attention’. 1866― Cerise (ed. 3) I. i. 11 Like a soldier who springs to ‘attention’. 1879H. Hartigan Stray Leaves ser. ii. 146 He drew himself up to attention, and performed the lance exercise. Ibid. 181 The old man was standing at attention. 1892Kipling & Balestier Naulahka 259 A trooper..stood to attention at the horse's head. 1895Cornhill Mag. Dec. 633 He..saluted, and stood at attention. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 8 Make the patient ‘stand attention’.
6. attrib. and Comb.
1898Titchener Primer Psychol. v. 88 The attention-wave rises and falls at short intervals: attention fluctuates. 1901― Exper. Psychol. I. ii. viii. 197 The attention period (the time-interval from maximum to maximum of sensation). Ibid. 198 A continuous attention-strain. 1902W. James Let. 20 Apr. (1920) II. 164 It is an uplifting thought that truth is to be told at last in a radical and attention-compelling manner. 1934Jrnl. Social Psychol. V. 313 Results which present conflicting records of the attention-spans of the subjects observed. 1949Mind LVIII. 125 The book is written with grace and humour, and in an attention-holding way. 1964L. S. Hultzén in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 90 Attention-calling modifications tend to occur.
Add:[6.] b. Special Comb. attention-seeking, the action or process of deliberately seeking to draw attention to oneself; also as adj., that seeks attention or notoriety.
1961Educ. of Children with Handicaps (16th Yearbk. Ontario School Inspectors' Assoc.) 183 In summary, negativism may be mere *attention-seeking, or it may be a pathological symptom of serious proportion. 1965M. Morse Unattached v. 184 She began to develop more honest relationships and her attention-seeking behaviour began to ease up. 1986City Limits 12 June 61 The complex relationship between predator and victim shows how rape is more than the cry of attention-seeking females.
▸ attention deficit n. Psychol. and Psychiatry a deficiency in attentiveness, typically manifesting as a restricted attention span; inability to pay attention or concentrate.
1967Amer. Jrnl. Mental Deficiency 71 136 The superiority of nonreward could be predicted from a theory of inhibitory deficit rather than *attention deficit. 1974Jrnl. Learning Disabilities Nov. 560/1 Twenty-one experimental studies of attention deficits in children were reviewed. 1997J. J. Ratey & C. Johnson Shadow Syndromes v. 186 As she saw more clearly how her attention deficit had thwarted her life's ambition of becoming a writer, she began to understand her depression as a reasonable response to a hidden handicap.
▸ attention deficit disorder n. Psychiatry (orig. U.S.) any behavioural disorder (usually of a child or adolescent) that is characterized by a marked degree of distractibility and often impulsivity and is not considered to be a sign of another disorder; (more widely) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (though in clinical use the two terms are specifically distinguished); abbreviated ADD; also called minimal brain dysfunction.
[1971R. A. Dykman et al. in H. R. Myklebust Progress in Learning Disabilities ii. iii. 56 (heading) Specific learning disabilities: an attentional deficit syndrome.] 1978R. Gittelman-Klein et al. in J. S. Werry Pediatric Psychopharmacol. v. 148 The disorder must be distinguished from *Attention Deficit Disorder without Hyperactivity which does not present with excessive motor activity. 1989J. A. B. Collier & J. M. Longmore Oxf. Handbk. Clin. Specialties (ed. 2) iii. 206 If there is also excessive inattention, poor concentration at school and impulsivity, the wider term attention deficit disorder or minimal brain dysfunction is used by some workers—provided the cause is not psychosis or an affective disorder. 1995Scotl. on Sunday 22 Oct. 6/1 The symptoms are some of the characteristics of attention deficit disorder—ADD—a condition which is either a fancy, mumbo-jumbo American excuse for parental failure or the real reason so many young people underachieve at school. 2001Internat. Herald Tribune (Paris) (Nexis) 22 Feb. 9 The American government's representative on the board cited the ‘medicalization’ of social problems and a tendency to treat symptoms of conditions such as obesity or attention deficit disorders, and not what might be their underlying causes.
▸ attention deficit hyperactivity disorder n. Psychiatry (orig. U.S.) a behavioural disorder in which the predominant features are distractibility, impulsivity, and hyperactivity, typically beginning in early childhood and often persisting into adulthood, and usually affecting school performance most severely though also manifesting itself in work and social situations; abbreviated ADHD; cf. attention deficit disorder n. at Additions.
[1978D. P. Cantwell & G. A. Carlson in J. S. Werry Pediatric Psychopharmacol. vi. 207 The usefulness of the catecholaminic stimulants in psychiatric disorders other than Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity is unproven.] 1987Diagnostic & Statist. Man. Mental Disorders (Amer. Psychiatric Assoc.) (rev. ed.) 50 *Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)... The essential features of this disorder are developmentally inappropriate degrees of inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity. 1996New Scientist 9 Mar. 7/1 The number of American children taking Ritalin to control the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder..is rocketing. 2000Brit. Jrnl. Gen. Practice 50 201/2 The differences between the broader American concept of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the narrower European concept of hyperkinesis caused particular confusion.
▸ attention span n. the breadth of attention, measured by the number of items that a person can perceive in or reproduce after a single presentation (cf. span n.1 5c) (chiefly Psychol.); (more generally) the length of time a person can attend continuously to one type of stimulus (as a single subject, activity, etc.); (often modified) the capacity for sustained concentration.
1904Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 1 614 The subjects were tested with regard to memory, practice.., attention and effort.., *attention span, and a domino discrimination test. 1934Jrnl. Social Psychol. 5 313 Results which present conflicting records of the attention-spans of the subjects observed. 1959J. D. MacDonald Please write for Details i. 8 She had that unfortunate blend of characteristics which combines a capacity for intense enthusiasm with a curiously short attention span. 1987K. Gibbons Ellen Foster (1988) xii. 96 He does not have an attention span and..my new mama will rock him and read a bear or rabbit story to him and he will be still. 1995N.Y. Rev. Bks. 16 Feb. 39/2 The audience out there could be assumed to have the attention span of caddis flies. |