At any moment, you must divide your mental effort among tasks, each of which requires more or less attention. However, as skill becomes more automatic, it requires less attention. Very intense stimuli usually command attention. Big, bright cars probably get more tickets than small, dull ones. Loud, irritating comedian Don Rickles has made a career out of the first principle of attention.
Repetitious stimuli are also attention-getting.
A dripping faucet at night makes little noise by normal standards, but because of repetition, it may become as attention-getting as a single sound many times louder. This effect is used repeatedly, so to speak, in television and radio commercials. The contrasting type styles draw attention because they are unexpected. Introduction to Psychology, Exploration and Application. Most basic sources of attention .