Inattentional Blindness

Inattentional blindness occurs when a person fails to notice something in plain sight because their attention is focused on another task. This demonstrates how limited attentional control can cause us to miss significant details in our environment.

1. Have participants focus on a primary task, such as counting passes in a ball game video or following a moving object.
2. While they are concentrating, introduce an unexpected but obvious element into the scene, such as a person in a costume walking through.
3. After the task, ask participants whether they noticed the unexpected event.
4. Discuss how attention can filter perception and lead to missing information.

selective attention test - Daniel Simons:

Brain Games- Inattentional Blindness (Double Dutch) - Professor Ross:

📄 Memory demos - Inattentional Blindness - Learn.Genetics: https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/memory/demos/

• Use live demonstrations in a classroom with staged events.
• Replace visual tasks with auditory tasks, such as focusing on one conversation while another unusual sound occurs.
• Vary the complexity of the primary task to see how it affects attention.

• No specific safety risks, but ensure the staged events are safe and non-threatening.
• If using a live demonstration, avoid startling participants excessively.

• Why do people fail to notice something that is directly in their line of sight? (Because attention has limited capacity and filters incoming information.)
• How does attentional control help us in everyday life? (It allows us to focus on important tasks and filter distractions.)
• Can inattentional blindness be reduced? (Yes, with practice, training, or by reducing task difficulty, but it cannot be fully eliminated.)
• What real-world consequences might inattentional blindness have? (Examples include missing safety warnings, traffic hazards, or important announcements.)