When attention goes badly wrong it can play some nasty tricks on us.

    Imagine if every time you walked into a room with a neatly turned down bed, you automatically took off your clothes and got into it -- even though it wasn't bedtime, wasn't your bed, and wasn't even your home. This might sound fanciful but it's a documented behaviour of patients with attentional problems caused by brain damage （Lhermitte, 1983）.

    Many everyday occurrences can also be explained by attentional errors, like when we miss obvious changes in the environment, fail at sports or simply forget to put the milk back in the fridge. More seriously psychologists have found that attentional processes can play a role in psychological problems like anxiety, panic, insomnia, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    Here are 18 ways attention can go wrong, some very common, some extremely unusual, a few downright weird; each giving us an insight into how our minds work.

    1. Utilisation behaviour

    Experienced by people who have suffered certain types of damage to the frontal lobes: patients find themselves unable to resist the routine actions suggested by objects around them. They will get into neatly turned down beds, even though it's not their bed; they will put on glasses, even though they don't wear glasses; and they will start eating when they see a plate and cutlery, even though the plate is empty and they're not hungry. These strange behaviours, reported by Lhermitte （1983） and others, are partly caused by an inability to inhibit automatic behaviours, it's like the old comedy standby of a distracted person continuing to spoon sugar into their coffee, except much more extreme.

    2. Spatial neglect

    Brain damage can produce weird shifts in behaviour and experience. People with damage to certain areas of the right hemisphere fail to pay full attention to things they see on their left （because of the way the brain is wired, the right hemisphere processes information about the left-visual-field）. They may only eat the food on the right-hand-side of their plate, or only shave half their face. They seem to see things to the left, but not to notice them.

    3. The rubber gloves illusion

    Competition for attention between the senses can create strange illusions. In one spooky study by Spence et al. （2000）, participants were made to 'feel' a touch on empty rubber gloves in front of them, despite their own hands being hidden from sight underneath the table, free from tactile sensation. This suggests information from the visual system can override attention to tactile sensation （or lack thereof） from the hands, to create an apparently impossible sensation.

    4. Pain

    Even more than sight, though, pain is the ultimate attention-grabber. Unsurprisingly people who experience chronic pain of one kind or another can find it difficult to concentrate （Ecclestone, 1995）. Pain pulls sufferers' attention away from task demands and forces them to continually re-focus to achieve their goal. One of the promising treatments for people suffering from chronic pain is 'attentional management': effectively helping people to direct less attention to their pain （Elomaa et al, 2009）.

    5. The cocktail party problem

    The 'cocktail party effect' is our impressive ability to tune our auditory attention to just one voice at a party. Unfortunately for those with hearing loss this can become the cocktail party problem, a difficulty in separating one voice from all the others. Hearing aids can be somewhat helpful, but often can't restore full function （Marrone et al., 2008）. This shows just how sensitive aural attention is to vocal characteristics: without precise information on spatial location, onset, offset, intensity and prosody, it's much more difficult to pluck one voice from a multitude.

    6. Alcohol myopia

    My favourite technical term for the insidious effect alcohol has on attention. After a couple of beers long-term consequences of actions are ignored in favour of short-term impulses. The intoxicated become attentionally short-sighted, even failing to spot clear environmental cues that things are going to end badly. Of course I wouldn't know anything about that: I just read it in a book. Ahem.

    7. Errors of automaticity

    When our attention is distracted we carry out highly practised behaviours automatically, occasionally at inappropriate times. Like putting the milk out and the cat in the fridge. In a classic diary study of everyday slips and lapses Reason （1979） got people to describe all sorts of cute out-of-context slips. One person reported unwrapping a sweet （candy to the rest of you）, throwing the sweet away and putting the wrapper in his mouth, another to putting shaving cream on his toothbrush and another to going upstairs to change for the evening, then finding himself wearing pyjamas. Although practice makes perfect, it can also make an unthinking robot.

    8. Inattentional & choice blindness

    It's absolutely incredible what changes people will miss when they're distracted. Participants in psychology studies fail to spot a gorilla in plain sight （Simons & Chabris, 1999）; don't notice their conversational partner has suddenly changed mid-conversation, albeit hidden by a conveniently passing door （Simons & Levin, 1998）; and frequently fail to recognise which of two people they originally chose as the most attractive （dubbed by the authors choice blindness）.

    9. Ironic processes of control

    In fact sometimes attention is a real bear. What about when you really want to get something right, like putt the ball, hit a beautiful serve right in the corner or reverse the car into a narrow space? Naturally you concentrate even harder than normal, really focus. Unfortunately that just seems to make things worse: you miss the putt by a mile, frame the ball 50ft in the air and ding the car. What gives? These are what Wegner et al. （1998） call 'ironic processes of control'. Sometimes too much attention is just as detrimental as too little.

    10. Insomnia

    It's all very well smirking at the irony of people unable to putt, serve or park, but anyone who has suffered insomnia knows it's no laughing matter. Attention gets a look in here as well. Recent research suggests that insomnia may be partly explained by an attentional bias towards 'sleep-related threat' （Harvey et al., 2005）. In other words insomniacs keep themselves awake by focusing too much on the bodily sensations associated with sleep and any environmental noises that might be keeping them awake. Unfortunately also somewhat ironic.

    11. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder （ADHD）

    Now the most well-known of attention disorders, it consists of three broad types: （1） mostly inattentive, （2） mostly impulsive and hyperactive and （3） all three （jackpot）. Those with the attention-deficit component find it difficult to concentrate, are easily distracted and likely to day-dream. The vast majority of those diagnosed with ADHD are children. ADHD is often partly treated with a stimulant （Ritalin）, along with behaviour therapy.

    12. Anxiety

    You may be surprised to learn that anxiety is a sort of attention disorder, but being overly self-focused seems to be involved in many different mental health problems. Amongst people with social phobia and social anxiety their self-focused attention tends to maintain the problem （Spurr & Stopa, 2002）. It makes perfect intuitive sense: a person continually thinking about themselves in social situations is bound to become more self-concious. Unfortunately it's another rather ironic process.

    13. Panic attacks

    Paying too much attention to bodily processes is a strong feature of those who experience panic attacks. Clearly we should all pay some attention to our bodily processes - otherwise we'd just ignore the toothache and our teeth would drop out. But people who experience panic attacks are hypervigilant to somatic sensations （Schmidt et al. （1997）. One person's heartburn is another's death-knell.

    14. Hypochondriasis

    And talking of paying too much attention to bodily sensations, you'll be unsurprised to learn that hypochondriacs tend to be hypersensitive to odd twinges （Barsky et al., 1988）.

    15. Eating disorders

    Again people with eating disorders like anorexia nervosa seem to have attentional biases around body image （Rieger et al., 1998）

    16. Obsessive-compulsivedisorder （OCD）

    People with OCD typically carry out particular tasks -- like hand-washing -- repeatedly in order to relieve anxiety about an obsession. Excessive attention towards anxiety-inducing thoughts, particularly those that are threat-related seems to be at least partly to blame （Lavy, 1994）.

    17. Posttraumatic stress disorder （PTSD）

    After experiencing a traumatic event, most people will recover given time, but to a significant minority relief is elusive. They experience flashbacks, nightmares and the feeling of losing control. Attention seems to be involved as PTSD sufferers are especially attracted to and vigilant for negative stimuli in the environment （Vythilingham, 2007）.

    18. Depression

    Like those with PTSD, people experiencing depression also show an enhanced processing for negative stimuli （Ingram et al., 1994）. One important maintaining process in depression is thought to be rumination. Individuals who are more prone to going over negative experiences again and again are more susceptible to developing clinical depression.

    Well balanced

    In many, perhaps all these examples of how attention can go wrong, it isn't just attentional processes that are causing grief; psychological problems are frequently caused by many different factors. What this list does demonstrate, though, is how disruptions to attentional processes can cause or are involved in all kinds of different problems.

    Something that psychologists are heard to say increasingly often is that the potential for many of these extreme experiences is within all of us. Anxiety, panic, insomnia and the rest are a part of the human condition - everyone can empathise to some extent.

    What strikes home is how delicately balanced attentional processes have to be in order to produce pleasant everday experience. Too little attention and it's difficult to achieve goals in life, too much attention and it's hard to break free from loops of negative thinking and feeling.

    当注意力严重出错时，通常会给我们带来一些令人不快的玩笑。

    试想，假如每次你走进一个床铺得整整齐齐的房间，你无意识地脱下衣服就躺在床上--尽管不是就寝时间，不是自己的床，不是自己的家。这看起来可能不可思议，然而这确实是一个有证可依的因脑损伤而有注意力问题的病患人的行为（Lhermitte,1983）.

    许多日常事件也可以解释为注意力缺陷所致，就像当我们未注意所在环境中的明显变化，在运动中失败或是简单地忘了把牛奶放回冰箱里。更严重地是，心理学家已经发现注意的过程可以起作用于心理问题如焦虑、恐慌、失眠、抑郁和强迫症。

    这里是十八种注意力出错的的情况，一些很常见，一些极不寻常，少数非常离奇；每一种都让我们对我们的思维是怎样运作的作一个了解。

    1.效用行为

    那些大脑前叶遭受某些类型损伤的人的经历表明：患者发现自己无法抗拒周围物体引发的日常行为。他们将爬上铺好了的整洁的床，尽管那不是他们的床；他们将戴上眼镜，尽管他们本来不戴眼镜的；当看见盘子和刀叉，他们也将吃起来，尽管盘子是空的而且他们并不饿。Lhermitte（1983）和其他人讲述的这些奇怪的行为，除了更加极端的情况之外，部分程度上是由无法抑制自发行为的能力所致，这就像老喜剧备用的情节，一个分心的人一直不停地往咖啡里加糖。

    2.空间忽略

    脑损伤可以产生在行为上和感受上很奇怪的变化。那些右脑某些区域受伤的人不能全身心地注意他们左边的事物（因为大脑工作方式是相互联系的，右脑处理左视场方面的信息）.他们可能只是吃盘子右手边的食物，或是剃一半的脸。他们似乎在看左侧的事物，但却没有意识到他们。

    3.橡胶手套的幻想

    感官之间的注意力竞争可能产生奇怪的幻想。在一项由Spence等人（2000）组织的怪异研究中，参与者被要求触摸到一个在他们面前的像是空的橡胶手套，尽管实际上他们自己的手是藏在视线之外的没有触摸过的桌子底下。这项研究表明，来自视觉系统的信息可以覆盖通过手获得的触感（或是缺乏其他的）注意，结果造成一种显然不可能的感觉。

    4.疼痛

    但是疼痛是最终的注意力焦点，甚至超过视觉。毫不惊讶地可以发现，那些经受这种或是那种长期的疼痛的人们很难集中注意力（Ecclestone, 1995）.疼痛将病患的注意力从任务要求中拉走，同时迫使他们不断地重新集中注意力来实现其目标。一条有望用来治疗患长期性疼痛症的人的法子是"注意力管理":有效地帮助人们将较少的注意力放到疼痛上（Elomaa等人，2009）.

    5.鸡尾酒会问题

    "鸡尾酒会效应"讲述的是我们印象深刻的能力，这项能力将我们的听觉注意调整到关注的仅一种声音。不幸地是，对于那些遭受听力损失的人们，这就可能成为鸡尾酒会问题，难以从一大堆声音中区分出各种声音。助听器可能会有所帮助，但是往往不能恢复全部功能（Marrone等人，2008）.这表明听觉的注意对于有声的特性有多么地敏感：没有对空间位置、发作、抵消、强度和韵律的精准信息，将一种声音从一群声音中挑出来是更加困难的一件事情。

    6.酒精近视

    酒精近视是我最喜欢的技术术语，关于酒精对注意力的潜在影响。几杯啤酒下肚，由于短期的刺激作用，行为的长期性结果被忽视了。醉的人注意力上变得眼光短浅，甚至无法清楚地辨认出周围环境的信号指示以致事情将拙劣地结束。当然我无法知道关于这点的一切：我只是从一本书中读到的。（咳嗽声。）

    7.自发性错误

    当我们的注意力错乱之时，偶尔在不恰当的时机我们将自发地高度执行老练的行为。比如将牛奶拿出来把猫放进冰箱里。在一项典型的关于日常失误和失误原因的日记研究中，Reason（1979）让人们描述各种各样可爱的前后无关联的小过失。一人写道剥糖果（给你们的糖果）,结果把糖果给扔了，却将糖衣纸放进他嘴里，另一次是将剃须膏挤到牙刷上，还有一次是爬上楼去换晚装，然后发现自己穿得是睡衣。尽管孰能生巧，却也会做出未经考虑的机器人行为。

    8.非注意视盲&选择失明

    这是绝对不可思议的的事情，当人们分心的时候他们将会看不出什么样的变化。在心理学研究中，参与者无法一目了然地辨认出一个大猩猩（Simons & Chabris,1999）;没有注意到与他们谈话的伙伴已经在交谈过程中被突然地换掉了，尽管靠一个方便的可通过的门所隐藏着（Simons & Levin,1998）;经常性地错认两个人中谁是他们当初所选择的最具吸引力的那个（这就是被作者们所称的选择失明）.

    9. 控制的讽刺过程

    事实上，有时候注意力就像是一个真实的熊。当你真正想要得到所要的东西时候，如轻击高尔夫球，正好将球漂亮地发在角落里或是将车倒到一个狭小的场地，怎么样？很自然地，你会比正常情况更难于集中注意力，这是焦点所在。不幸地是，这恰看起来使事情变得更糟：你的一击差了一英里，发的球在空中飞了50英尺，倒车碰得叮叮当当。出了什么事？这些就是Wegner等人（1998）所称的"控制的讽刺过程".有时候太多的关注和太少的关注一样的不利。

    10.失眠

    嘲弄那些不会击球、发球或是停车的人，好倒是好，倒也不坏，但是任何一个遭受失眠之苦的人都懂得这一点都不可笑。注意力在这里同样可见一斑。最近的研究表明失眠的部分原因可能是注意力偏向于"与睡眠相关的威胁"（Harvey等人，2005）.换句话说，失眠患者使自己保持清醒，缘于过多地关注于与睡眠有关的身体感受以及任何可能使他们保持醒着状态的环境噪音。不幸地是，这还多少有点讽刺意味。

    11.注意力不足过动症（ADHD）

    现在最有名的注意障碍有三大类：（1）经常性疏忽；（2）经常性冲动和多动；（3）所有这三种情况的叠加。那些注意力不足的人发现很难去集中注意力，容易分心和想入非非。绝大多数患有注意力不足过动症症的人是儿童。注意力不足过动症常常用兴奋剂（利他林）来治疗，同时伴以行为疗法。

    12.焦虑

    你可能会惊讶地得知，焦虑是一种注意障碍，但是过于自我关注似乎包含在众多不同的心理健康问题中。在具有社交恐怖症和社交焦虑的人群中，他们的自我关注倾向于保持这一问题（Spurr & Stopa,2002）.它可以产生完美的直观感觉：一个人不断地思考在社会环境中的自己必将变得更加自我。不幸地是，这是另一个相当具有讽刺意味的过程。

    13.无端恐惧症

    花太多的注意力在身体新陈代谢过程上是那些无端恐惧症患者的一种强烈表现。显然，我们都应该付出一些关心在我们的身体新陈代谢上--否则我们将不顾牙痛而我们牙将掉光。但是那些无端恐惧症患者对肉体的感觉非常敏感（Schmidt等人，1997）.一个人的心痛是另一个人的死亡丧钟。

    14.疑病症

    谈到花太多注意力到身体感觉上，你将不奇怪地得知到疑病症患者往往对奇怪的阵痛过敏（Barsky等人，1988）.

    15.进食障碍

    此外，患有进食障碍的人，如神经性厌食患者似乎将注意力偏向于体形（Rieger等人，1998）.

    16.强迫症（OCD）

    强迫症患者通常会进行特别的工作--就像洗手--反反复复洗以减轻焦虑的困扰。过多的注意力转向到焦虑诱导的想法上，特别是那些与威胁相关的想法上，这看起来是至少部分是这一病症诱因（Lavy,1994）.

    17.创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）

    在经历了创伤性事件后，大部分人在一定时间后会恢复，但是对于极少数人来说，伤痛难以缓解。他们的经历会时不时闪现，常常做噩梦以及感到无法控制。注意力似乎应该纳入诱因，因为创伤后应激障碍患者尤其受环境中消极刺激的吸引并对其敏感（Vythilingham,2007）.

    18.抑郁症

    就像那些创伤后应激障碍患者一样，抑郁症患者也对负面刺激表现出一种放大处理（Ingram等人，1994）.处于抑郁时，有一个重要的维护过程被认为是反刍。那些更倾于一而再再而三搁置消极经历的个体对发展中的临床抑郁症更敏感。

    均衡

    在许多可能是所有这些关于注意力会犯错的例子中，不仅仅是注意的过程才导致伤痛；心理问题往往由众多不同的因素造成。这一列表所表明的是，注意的过程中的如何引起或是涉及各种不同的问题。

    心理学家越来越多地听到的事是我们都具有碰上许多这里提到的极端经历情况的可能性。焦虑、恐慌、失眠及其他是人类状态的一部分--每个人都在一定程度上会遇到。

    和谐的注意过程毫无疑问能够获得令人愉快的日常经历，所能取得的显着效果多么微妙。过少的关注难以实现生活中的目标，而过多的关注难以从消极的想法和感受循环中摆脱出来。