Simon and Chabris

Research method

Lab experiment

Sampling method

Self-selected

Inattentional blindness

occurs when attention diverted to another object or task and observers often fail to perceive an unexpected object.

Design

independent measures

Video IV 1

Gorilla/Umbrella woman

Video IV 2

Transparent/opaque

Task IV 1

Black/white team (to be monitored)

Task IV2

Easy/hard task (total number of passes vs number aerial and number of bounce passes)

Sample

192 students

How many participants were removed?

36

How long were videos? (S)

75

At what point did gorilla/umbrella woman appear?

44-48 seconds

Overall result

54% noticed the unexpected event and 46% didn't

Opaque/Transparent result

67% of participants noticed the unexpected event with a solid image compared to only 42% in the see through condition

Easy/Hard task result

Counting number of passes 64% vs counting aerial & bounce passes 45%.

Gorilla vs Umbrella woman result

Umbrella woman was seen more often

White team/black team result

Gorilla spotted more when looking at the white team passes than black. No real difference for umbrella woman

Conclusion

We can conclude that individuals do have inattentional blindness for dynamic events. They will often fail to notice a seemingly obvious, but unexpected event if they are engaged in another monitoring task.