Simons and Chabris (1999) Flashcards
What is meant by inattentional blindness?
Failure to see an event or object in your field of vision because you are focused on other elements of what you can see.
What was the main aim of Simons an Chabris stud?
To confirm that inattentional blindness occurs in a realistic, complex situation, and that it it sustained (5 seconds or more)
What was this study inspired by?
Study by Neisser et al. into inattentional blindness.
Outline the sample of Simons and Chabris study.
- 228 ‘observers’
- Undergraduate students
What materials were used in Simons and Chabris study? (the videos)
- 4 tapes each 75 seconds long
- 2 teams of 3, one wearing white, one wearing black
- Passing basketball in front of lifts
Outline the procedure.
- Participants asked to either count passes (easy) or count number of aerial and number of bounce passes (hard)
- 44-48 seconds in, unexpected event occurred
- Video either opaque or transparent (filmed at same time or at separate times and superimposed onto each other)
What were the unexpected events?
-44-48 seconds in, either a woman with an umbrella or a person dressed as a gorilla walks through middle of screen for 5 seconds.
What were the 3 questions experimenters asked the participants after watching the video?
- ‘While you were doing the counting, did you notice anything unusual?’
- ‘Did you notice anything other than the 6 players?’
- ‘Did you see a gorilla [woman carrying an umbrella] walk across the screen?’
What were the overall results to do with inattentional blindness?
Overall inattentional blindness was 46% (54% noticed the unexpected event).
What did they find to do with transparent/opaque, easy/hard, umbrella/gorilla and white/black team?
- Easier to notice in opaque condition
- Easier to notice in easy condition
- Umbrella woman was seen more
- People saw gorilla more when asked to watch black team
What is the main conclusion of this study?
That inattentional blindness does occur, and it is sustained.
