The amount of time someone can concentrate on a task without losing interest in or being distracted from it. Increasing attention span is one of the skills a young child develops gradually; however, children with learning disabilities and some other developmental disorders may have heightened distractibility, perhaps as part of a complex of problems known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Length of time that one can concentrate on a given object or activity (compare autism). Some disturbed patients have extremely short attention spans (i.e., less than a few minutes).
The duration of sustained concentration on a task or activity.