Multiple choice

The author seems to be making a case for

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.
Things are continually happening all around us that we see with but half an eye. They are in the “fringe” of consciousness, and we deliberately ignore them. Many more things come to us in the form of sense-impressions that clamorously assail our sense-organs, but no effort of the will is needed to ignore them. We are absolutely impervious to them and unconscious of them because by the selection of our life interests we have closed the doors against them. In either case, whether in the “fringe" of consciousness or entirely outside of consciousness, these unperceived sensations will be found to be sensory images that have no connection with the present subject of thought. They therefore attract, and we spare them, no part of our attention.
Just as each of our individual sense-organs selects from the multitude of ether vibrations constantly beating upon the surface of the body only those waves to the velocity of which it is attuned, so each one of us as an integral personality selects from the stream of sensory experiences only those particular objects of attention that are in some way related to the present or habitual trend of thought.

  1. the uniform selectivity exhibited by humans while responding to stimuli

  2. proving the diversity in human nature accounting for varied responses to stimuli

  3. the uniquely human ability to exclude distractions and focus on the task at hand

  4. the selective response to stimuli that humans consciously or otherwise exhibit

  5. understanding the difference between fringe consciousness and obliviousness

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The author tries to explain how humans selectively- consciously or unconsciously - respond only to select stimuli.