Motivation, concentration, attention: 3 essential levers for successful learning

Motivation, concentration, attention… Do you know the difference between these three terms?

Often used interchangeably when discussing learning, they are in fact distinct phenomena that come into play at different stages of the learning process. To make the most of them when designing your educational content, it is important to distinguish them clearly.‍

Let's start with an example:

You have a job interview this afternoon. To make a good impression, you've decided to learn as much as possible about the company. After an hour and a half browsing their website, you realise your approach isn't working: you can't retain anything. What might be causing this failure?

First possibility: You lack motivation. You've already had three interviews this week and none led to a job offer: you've lost much hope that this one will be any different. Not expecting to be rewarded for your efforts, it's hard to get started with conviction.

Second possibility: You lack concentration. For example, you recently met someone and you're eagerly awaiting their message. The excitement this creates distracts you from everything else. It's impossible to allocate your cognitive resources to anything else. The company's organisational chart is no match for the urge to check your phone every two minutes.

Finally, third possibility: You're struggling to direct your attention towards the most important details about the company. Org charts, company history, client lists, events… too many equally important elements are on the site and you don't know where to focus. Unless you prioritise the information you need for the interview and get organised, you feel you're going to drown in this flood of information.

Motivation, concentration and attention are closely linked: the more motivated you are and the better you focus your attention on what matters, the easier it becomes to concentrate on your task. Nevertheless, they remain three distinct phenomena, each requiring different levers to be addressed.

Distinguishing the sources of motivation

As illustrated by this example, motivation can be considered the gateway to learning. We can identify two sources of motivation [1]. On one hand, intrinsic motivation, where the pleasure lies in the act itself. For instance, I cook because it relaxes me, or I write this book because it makes me proud. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation, where the action leads to consequences we consider positive. For example, I work late because I know it will earn me money, or I put effort into this file because it might earn me a raise.

These two types of motivation are not mutually exclusive. An employee may be motivated to learn both for the personal pride that new skills will bring and because it will help them advance within the company. However, it appears that intrinsic motivation is the stronger driver of learning. In their 2003 article, Lin et al. [2] highlight the relevance of stimulating learners not by emphasising the scores they will achieve in tests, but by focusing on the skills they will acquire.

Identifying barriers to concentration

Even when motivation is present, several competing objectives can prevent you from concentrating fully on your task. Sources of distraction are numerous and can be physiological (lack of sleep, hunger, thirst) as well as psychological (anxiety).

Concentration can be defined as the conscious ability to allocate cognitive resources to a given task. Throughout the day, concentration levels tend to fluctuate. Raviv and Low found in their study [4] that during lectures, no difference in concentration was observed between morning classes and those held at the end of the day. However, concentration fluctuated most within a single class, with higher levels at the end than at the beginning. These results may be relevant to consider when organising courses: for example, by avoiding placing key elements at the start of a session when concentration is lower.

Decoding the secrets of attention

We now come to the last phenomenon introduced at the start of this article: attention. This phenomenon has been at the centre of many media debates in recent years: the rise in attention deficit disorders (the well-known ADHD), attention and screens, meditation and attention, and so on.

But what is attention? To clearly distinguish attention from concentration, consider the following example. A person driving a car is concentrating on their journey: to do so, they must pay attention to traffic lights, right-of-way rules, and pedestrians along the way. Looking at the definition, attention can be described as the selection of an external piece of information or event in a clear and precise way and its maintenance in consciousness [5]. This definition highlights two interesting characteristics of attention:

1) It is limited. Attention can only focus on a limited number of pieces of information, which requires selecting the most relevant ones.

2) It is linked to memory and learning. Indeed, before memorising information, you must first direct your attention towards it and judge it as worth taking into account. Stanislas Dehaene cited attention as one of the four fundamental pillars of learning [6], alongside active learner engagement, providing regular feedback, and consolidating learned information.

Many researchers have studied the factors influencing attention. These studies have focused in particular on how to direct learners' attention towards the most important points in the content to be learned. Many recommendations for trainers have emerged. This would help reduce the cognitive load generated by training elements presented to learners. Moreover, it appears necessary to communicate effectively about the importance of the elements being presented. This manipulation of content to manage learner attention is referred to as content design, and is decisive in determining the pedagogical impact of a training programme.

In conclusion

Motivation, concentration, attention: many factors can influence the effectiveness of a training programme. Better understanding the cognitive phenomena at play in learning is a significant asset for creating training better adapted to learners' cognitive constraints — and therefore more effective! Note also that choosing a good LMS platform is very important: this tool should make your life easier, for example by enabling a learning experience that supports feedback or adaptive learning.
This last point is a topic in its own right, which you can explore further in our articles Adaptive Learning: Why and how to apply it in professional training, What is the difference between good and bad Adaptive Learning?, and Adaptive learning, the holy grail of engagement? Yes, but...

REFERENCES

[1] Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of research in personality, 19(2), 109-134.
[2] Lin, Y. G., McKeachie, W. J., & Kim, Y. C. (2003). College student intrinsic and/or extrinsic motivation and learning. Learning and individual differences, 13(3), 251-258.
[3] Huang, R. H., & Shih, Y. N. (2011). Effects of background music on concentration of workers. Work, 38(4), 383-387.
[4] Raviv, S., & Low, M. (1990). Influence of physical activity on concentration among junior high-school students. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 70(1), 67-74.
[5] The Principles of Psychology, Vol. 1, Chap 11, "Attention", pp. 403-404.
[6] Dehaene, S. (2012). Les grands principes de l'apprentissage. Collège de France, 20.