span of attention

American  

noun

Psychology.

1. attention span.

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Example Sentences

Trump’s inability to master hypotaxis, the embedding of clauses within clauses—his tendency to keep elaborating on a single, incomplete clause until he runs out of steam—may, as University of Edinburgh language specialist Geoffrey Pullum told Vox, betray “scattered thoughts, a short span of attention, and a lack of intellectual discipline and analytical skills.”

From Slate

There is no beginning and no end, and almost any span of attention is quickly rewarded.

From New York Times

“The average span of attention for the millennial is eight seconds, but on the Super Bowl, they actually give you their undivided attention,” Mr. Socquet said.

From New York Times

The "span of attention" for objects of any given kind is measured by discovering how many such objects can be clearly seen, or heard, or felt, in a single instant of time.

From Project Gutenberg

Bringing together now what we have learned regarding the higher and more difficult forms of attention, as revealed by sustained attention and work under distraction, by the span of attention and by trying to do two things at once, we find the previously stated three laws of attention further illustrated, and a couple of new laws making their appearance.

From Project Gutenberg