# A simple, but eye opening test (Focus of attention and ease of missing big stuff) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simple-but-eye-opening-test-focus-of-attention-and-ease-of-missing-big-stuff/542510 "2010-06-09T05:19:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simple-but-eye-opening-test-focus-of-attention-and-ease-of-missing-big-stuff/542510/21 "2010-06-10T00:15:43Z")
> [@](#): > > I already knew about this, so I couldn’t help seeing the bear. I was surprised he wasn’t a gorilla. Try [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simple-but-eye-opening-test-focus-of-attention-and-ease-of-missing-big-stuff/542510/22 "2010-06-10T00:18:51Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > [This one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubNF9QNEQLA&NR=1) got me. I knew to be watching for the bear in the first one. Loved it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simple-but-eye-opening-test-focus-of-attention-and-ease-of-missing-big-stuff/542510/23 "2010-06-10T01:41:13Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > That’s kind of the point, isn’t it? We’re all watching the white team (cars) and not looking for the black team (cyclists). Well, if there bicyclists dress to blend in with the background it might be an issue. People tend not to see the chick in a bear suit because she’s dressed in the exact colors that we’re actively trying to filter out. If people dress in black and drive at night without lights we probably won’t see them as they dart through the shadows. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simple-but-eye-opening-test-focus-of-attention-and-ease-of-missing-big-stuff/542510/24 "2010-06-10T02:31:06Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I nearly hit a bicyclist trying to watch this video while I was driving, AND I missed the bear! Good job, if you’d hit the bear it would have mauled you! > [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Well, if there bicyclists dress to blend in with the background it might be an issue. People tend not to see the chick in a bear suit because she’s dressed in the exact colors that we’re actively trying to filter out. If people dress in black and drive at night without lights we probably won’t see them as they dart through the shadows. Actually, you and **Shodan** are probably mistaken. Variations on this experiment and IRL suggest that \*inattenional blindeness \*is little effected by visibility. Submitted for your approval > **[The Invisible Gorilla](http://invisiblegorilla.com/)** > > The Invisible Gorilla by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons examines the everyday cognitive illusions that affect how we understand ourselves and our world. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simple-but-eye-opening-test-focus-of-attention-and-ease-of-missing-big-stuff/542510/25 "2010-06-11T16:33:49Z")
Maybe we aren’t talking about the same thing. When I drive, I am paying attention to the road. In other words, I would probably miss a bill board, even if it had a dancing bear. Because a bill board isn’t likely to affect my driving. And you can fool people by mis-directing their attention. OK - magicians figured that out a few thousand years ago. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simple-but-eye-opening-test-focus-of-attention-and-ease-of-missing-big-stuff/542510/26 "2010-06-12T06:47:31Z")
No, we’re talking about the same thing. Inattentional blidness occurs when your finite ability to pay attention is saturated, even something you \*would want and expect to notice \*may not cross that threshold. These examples don’t involve distraction or camoflage and they’re in the center of the field of view > [@](#): > > NASA conducted an experiment in a flight simulator in which commercial pilots were tested to see if they would notice distractions on a runway during simulated landings.[2] Those who were trained pilots did not notice and landed directly on top of the distraction 1/4 of the time > [@](#): > > a red cross unexpectedly appeared and traveled across the display, remaining on the computer screen for five seconds. The results of the experiment showed that even though the cross was distinctive from the black and white objects both in color and shape, about a third of participants missed it. > **[Inattentional blindness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inattentional_blindness)** > > Inattentional blindness or perceptual blindness (rarely called inattentive blindness) occurs when an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus in plain sight, purely as a result of a lack of attention rather than any vision defects or deficits. When it becomes impossible to attend to all the stimuli in a given situation, a temporary "blindness" effect can occur, as individuals fail to see unexpected but often salient objects or stimuli. > The term was chosen by Arien Mack and Irvin Rock... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simple-but-eye-opening-test-focus-of-attention-and-ease-of-missing-big-stuff/542510.md?page=1)