One of the factors which governs the attentional system in the conceptual structuring system. Relates to the relative prominence of referents: whether they are either backgrounded or foregrounded. For instance, in the following example: The wine merchant sold Edith the champagne, the focus of attention is on the seller, the wine merchant, which illustrates a focus of attention pattern. The consequence of this pattern is that the wine merchant receives greater attentional strength.