Final answer:
You are demonstrating selective attention when you focus on a conversation amidst a noisy party, as you selectively concentrate on one input and filter out others.
Step-by-step explanation:
If you're at a loud party and you're trying really hard to listen to a conversation with a friend, you're demonstrating selective attention. Selective attention is the process by which a person focuses on one particular set of stimuli or a single task, while ignoring other stimuli that are also present. For instance, at a noisy event, you might pay attention to your friend's words while tuning out the surrounding conversations, music, and laughter. This concept is also linked to phenomena like attentional capture, where an unexpected and conspicuous stimulus, like the sound of breaking glass, catches your attention despite your focus on the conversation. Important studies, such as the one by Simons and Chabris, show how selective attention can lead to inattentional blindness, where people fail to notice unexpected objects because they are so focused on another task.