Distractibility

DISTRACTIBILITY, a type of attention disorder consisting of a frequent change in the direction of attention occurring under the influence of internal and external (e.g., visual, auditory) stimuli, and an accelerated transition of attention to new impressions and ideas. At the core of the disorder lies the fluidity, instability, frequent change, and sometimes the complete loss of guiding goal-oriented ideas. Continuously emerging supplementary ideas, accidental external impressions, usually suppressed by the guiding action of goal-oriented ideas, during

Fertilizer, trash, rags, tin cans, rubber, corks, textiles, paper, coal mining and the production of illuminating gas, the use of gases and slag from blast furnaces, the utilization of old metal in blast furnaces, etc.; a whole series of discoveries in the chemical industry, both abroad and in the USSR, forces us to look at industrial waste only as a temporary phenomenon, testifying to the imperfection of our technology. Besides industry, waste finds wide application in agriculture. Food waste goes to feed livestock: pig farms are specially set up in the place where food waste is formed (e.g., at canteens, starch factories, etc.). Trash is a source of heat when placed in hotbeds. Feces are subject to composting, mainly with peat, etc. For the utilization of animal carcasses and slaughterhouse waste, there are utilization plants. With increased distractibility, they divert attention to themselves and hinder the flow of thoughts along a certain path. Mild manifestations of distractibility occur with absent-mindedness in states of fatigue, in chronic nervous exhaustion, and in periods of recovery after severe somatic suffering. A more sharp manifestation of distractibility is observed in states of agitation during progressive paralysis, in infectious psychoses, and is classically expressed in the manic state of manic-depressive psychosis. While in states of mental weakness, in progressive paralysis, and in senile dementia, increased distractibility often arises due to the loss or insufficiency of goal-oriented, guiding ideas, in manic agitation, there is a fluidity of the latter and increased liveliness of attention. The direction of attention of manic patients is extremely easily changed even by insignificant impressions, words, or the sight of new objects, on which attention, in turn, lingers only for a short time, being distracted toward new and new stimuli. Increased distractibility can also be a property of a psychopathic personality, being based on increased sensitivity to distracting influences and a decrease in the ability to habituate.