Inattentional Blindness
Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice a fully visible, but unexpected object because attention was engaged on another task, event, or object.1
Test a Friend
Skeptical? Test a friend. Testing yourself won’t work as well because you are already aware that this is a split attention test. Knowing that you will be more attentive to unexpected objects. Instead, pick a friend, don’t tell them what they are being tested for, and get them to watch the video below and follow the instructions. The research says that 50% of your friends will fail.
Take It Home
Fun, yes! But don’t leave it at that. Take the opportunity to ask the question, “Is there something in my life that I don’t see because I am paying so much attention to other things?”
Hey, if you aren’t paying attention to stuff that doesn’t matter anyway – great! But, if you aren’t paying attention to something that does matter – maybe it’s time to make a change.
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- Imperfect and Ethical: Repairing What We Break - September 23, 2023
- The Ethics of Nearness - September 16, 2023
- My Life Belongs to the Whole Community - September 11, 2023
- See Mack, A., & Rock, I. (1998). Inattentional Blindness. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ↩
