One smart trick the human brain has for noticing important events is to pick out a few things that we see or hear and to hold on to those things and examine them more closely to make sense of them. This prevents us from being overwhelmed by all the many things we see, hear, or feel. For example, even when typing in a quiet office, there are birds chirping outside, cars driving by the window, e-mail notifications on the computer, and many other things that we would better ignore if we wish to get our work done. Selective attention is the term that researchers use for the process of paying attention to only a few of the things that we notice with our senses.
Having smart phones and tablets available all the time challenges the brain's selective attention in completely new ways. These technologies create an environment in which we constantly switch attention on and off rapidly, between important and unimportant things. This is the thing you have to focus on, so at the present time it is important to you.

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Go to source: https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00023