Attention with a Narrow Focus

The author finds his attention to be narrowly focused. In the literature on autism and Asperger Syndrome, monotropism is described as a narrow focus of attention, a focus on parts rather than the whole, and difficulty understanding the whole picture. The term "weak central coherence" indicates a difficulty in integrating the narrow focus with the wider context. The author finds his attention functions largely as discussed in this literature, but critiques the various discussions. He describes how his attention works in the context of visual perception, disruptions of attention, sensory overload, attention deficit, the intensification of attention, and in seeing hypnopompic visual imagery. An analysis of his attention while seeing hypnopompic imagery brings out insights into how his attention works during visual perception.