What attention activities can involve

Attention is not one single task demand. In practice, sessions may involve several different kinds of attention.

An activity might ask the person to:

  • stay with one clear task
  • find target objects among distractors
  • move attention between parts of a scene
  • respond to a prompt without losing the goal
  • continue after a short interruption
  • notice when an object or instruction changes
  • ignore irrelevant objects
  • complete a short sequence without drifting away from it

These demands can appear in ordinary activity, which is why task-based work can be useful session material.

Activity ideas

Search for target objects

A visual search activity gives the person a clear target and asks them to look around a scene. You can start with a small number of objects and low visual load, then add complexity if appropriate.

Useful variations include changing object placement, adding distractors, repeating the activity, or asking the person to check the scene before finishing.

Review questions:

  • Did the person scan the whole scene?
  • Were relevant objects noticed first?
  • Were distractors selected?
  • Did prompts change the search pattern?

Stay with a short task

Choose an activity with a simple goal, such as selecting all items in a category or completing a short sequence. The focus is task persistence: whether the person stays with the activity until it is complete.

You can vary task length, object number, instruction clarity, and prompt timing.

Review questions:

  • Did the person continue without frequent redirection?
  • Where did attention drift?
  • Did shortening the task help?
  • Did repeating the activity change how it unfolded?

Shift attention between areas

A spatial scene can ask the person to move attention between different locations. They may need to check one side of the scene, return to the centre, compare objects, or search a second area after completing the first.

This is different from scanning a worksheet because the activity happens around the person.

Review questions:

  • Which area was searched first?
  • Were some areas missed?
  • Did the person return to previously searched areas?
  • Did they need cues to shift attention?

Sort while ignoring distractors

Sorting activities can include irrelevant objects that are visible but not part of the rule. The person needs to hold the sorting rule in mind and avoid selecting items that do not match it.

Keep the rule simple at first. If the scene is too busy, it may become hard to interpret what affected the activity.

Review questions:

  • Was the rule followed consistently?
  • Were irrelevant items selected?
  • Did visual clutter change the task?
  • What happened after an error?

What to vary

Attention activities are easiest to interpret when one demand changes at a time. You might vary:

  • number of objects
  • amount of visual clutter
  • task duration
  • number of targets
  • distractor similarity
  • prompt timing
  • whether instructions are repeated
  • whether the task is seated or standing

A small change can make a noticeable difference. For some sessions, making the activity shorter and clearer may create better material than making it harder.

What to observe

Look for how the person begins, whether they keep the task goal in mind, where they look first, whether they miss areas, how they respond to prompts, and what happens when the visual scene becomes busier.

Studio session review can help by showing activity completion, object choices, prompts, retries, and elements of how the scene was explored. This should be read alongside your own observation and professional context.

How Studio can help

CorteXR Studio gives therapists structured VR and AR activities that can create clear attention demands without relying only on paper tasks or flat screens. Visual search, sorting, sequencing, memory, and everyday simulations can all be used to create attention moments.

The value is not that the headset is novel. The value is that the person has something active to do, and you have a clearer activity to supervise and review.

Start with one attention demand

Attention activities are easiest to use when the first version is deliberately simple. If the task includes visual clutter, a long instruction, a changing rule, and several targets, it may be difficult to know what shaped the session. Start with one attention demand, then add another only when the activity still feels understandable. That keeps the session useful for you and less confusing for the person using the headset.

Focused, selective, and shifting attention

It can help to separate different attention demands before choosing an activity.

Focused attention might involve staying with one short task, such as finding three objects or completing one sorting rule. Selective attention might involve choosing relevant objects while ignoring distractors. Shifting attention might involve moving from one part of the scene to another, changing from search to sorting, or responding when the activity rule changes.

These demands can overlap, but naming the main one helps you choose the activity and review it afterwards.

For example:

  • Focused attention: complete a short visual search with one target type.
  • Selective attention: find target items among similar distractors.
  • Shifting attention: search one side of the scene, then move to a second area.
  • Sustained attention: continue a slightly longer activity with a clear end point.

Studio activities can be used in each of these ways, depending on how the task is configured and introduced.

When the activity is too easy or too hard

A useful attention activity should create enough demand to observe, but not so much that the session becomes confusing. If the person completes the task instantly, you may need more objects, more distractors, a longer sequence, or a second search area. If the person becomes lost, you may need fewer objects, clearer targets, shorter instructions, or a simpler scene.

The aim is not to keep increasing difficulty. The aim is to keep the activity readable.

Signs the activity may be too hard include repeated random selections, loss of the task goal, frustration, or needing direct prompts for nearly every step. Signs it may be too easy include no meaningful search, no need to check the scene, and little material to discuss afterwards.

Reviewing attention without scoring it

Attention activities can be discussed without creating a score. You might talk about where the person looked first, whether they found all target objects, which distractors pulled attention, whether prompts helped, and what changed when the scene was simplified.

This keeps the conversation practical. The review is not a label. It is a record of how the activity unfolded and what might be useful next.

Observing attention in the moment

Attention activities often give useful information while they are happening, not only afterwards. Watch how the person prepares to start, whether they looks towards the relevant area, whether their search becomes repetitive, and whether they notices when they have already checked somewhere.

It can help to narrate sparingly rather than constantly. Too much verbal support may change the task into a therapist-led instruction sequence. A pause, a general prompt, or a request to check again may give you more useful material than immediately pointing out the target.

Afterwards, you can review the activity in ordinary language: what was noticed quickly, what was missed, what distracted attention, and what helped the person return to the task.

A simple progression

One practical progression is to begin with a single-target visual search, then repeat the task with more objects, then repeat again with a small number of distractors. This gives you three related activity moments without changing the whole task. You can see whether attention changes because the task is busier, because the person is more familiar with the activity, or because prompts have helped them understand the search routine.

That kind of progression is often more useful than switching quickly between unrelated activities.

Explore CorteXR Studio

Studio gives occupational therapists configurable VR and AR activities for supervised sessions, with activity review and optional managed headset support.

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Studio note: CorteXR Studio is non-medical activity software for therapist-led sessions. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, monitor, prevent, or alleviate any disease, injury, or impairment.

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