Cognitive: Simon and Chabris Flashcards
background
> change blindness- don’t notice large changes to object if not in focal point
Inattentional blindness- if attention is focused on other task, may fail to perceive an unexpected object
visually demanding tasks load the brain’s attention so more blind to distractions
Aims
> build on classic studies of divided attention
examine inattentional blindness for complex objects and events in dynamic scenes
method
lab
design
independent measures
IV
display- transparent/opaque umbrella, transparent/opaque gorilla
task- white easy/hard, black easy/hard
DV
number of pps who see unexpected event
materials
> 4 vid tapes 75s long
2 teams of 3 w+b
pass basketball in standardised order bounce or throw
players dribble ball and wave arms
44-48s unexpected event occurs- umbrella or gorilla
transparent/opaque
sample
228 upgrades that volunteered and some payed, data from 36 removed
>192 split into 16 conditions equally
>controlled observation 12 unique pps
procedure
> 21 experimenters- written protocol
consent given and pp tested alone and told would be watching basketball and to pay attention to a colour team
silently count passes made by attended team or separate counts of bounce and thrown passes
after vid asked to write answer
questions asked
pps asked if they know of affect and debriefed
results
> 36 withdrawn due to knowing of effect or incorrect performance of task
54% notice
more notice in opaque than transparent
more notice in easy than hard
effect of task difficulty greater in transparent condition
umbrella woman noticed more than gorilla
gorilla noticed more in black team attention
little difference in w/b for umbrella
conclusions
> sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events
fail to notice unexpected event if engaged in a primary monitoring task
level of inattentional blindness depends on task difficulty
no conscious perception without attention
