Okay, so this video has been posted on here before. There’s been one or two topics about it in the past, although not for awhile, I think.
Watch the video and reply to this topic before you read any other reply and before you click on my spoiler below.
Here is the video: selective attention test - YouTube
I never understood this test, because how do you NOT see the gorilla? I think it’s impossible not to see him, but apparently most people don’t see him the first time.
Did you follow the instructions and focus on the task? Or did you follow the instructions while also being aware before hand that something “odd” would be happening and therefore try to multi-task?
I’ve heard people conclude that those who didn’t “catch” it were not good observers or weren’t paying attention.
I’d argue that those who were asked to “only” focus on the instructions given but somehow saw what else happened have trouble focusing and are distracted easily.
I figured this was the video I had seen before. I followed the instructions.
I totally missed the gorilla the first time I watched this.
Me too.
I wish I’d seen it before I read about it. Now I’ll never know. I’ll always be looking for something off every time I see a video like this, no matter how much it’s changed.
I counted the passes, and saw the gorilla. But they did a good job being subtle - the gorilla outfit looks enough like the outfits of the other “team” that you can miss it in peripheral vision.
Yes, I’ve taught various classes that touch on human error and I’ve often slotted this in at some point to help point out how fallible we all are.
Bear in mind that the attendees are Phd’s MBA’s and the like. High achieving individuals to a man and woman. I’ve given this test to hundreds of individuals and there is no correlation between intelligence and observational skills.
The way to tee this up is to introduce it as something other than it really is. I screen out those that have seen it before and introduce it as a test of how important it is to define exactly what we mean by a “pass” (does bouncing count?) and how we can’t get agreement on the true number and lots of waffle like that. It throws people off the scent and when you don’t expect anything out of the ordinary you simply won’t see it.
I completely missed the gorilla. I even played it from the beginning again, suspecting it was a trick. What’s more, I counted wrong - I got 13, the answer was 15. So even when I’m focused enough to miss a large primate, I’m still no good. 
The first time I ever saw the video, I followed the instructions and had no idea what was going to be coming. I didn’t know there was a “trick” to it, I thought it was really about counting the passes.
The thing is, while I’m counting them, I got interrupted/sidetracked because of a big gorilla suit man coming through. I even remember my thought process the first time I saw it… “five…six…WHAT THE HELL? Is that a guy in a gorilla suit?”
So, I did get the number of passes wrong.
I knew exactly what video I was going to see as soon as I read the OP. I first saw this a number of years ago, and I must admit that I completely missed the gorilla the first time.
Although I did get the number of passes right, and since that was what I was instructed to do, I maintain that I “Passed” 
When I was playing in the British Chess Championships, my parents decided to come and watch me.
Each game lasted between 4-7 hours, so during one game I got up to stretch my legs - and walked straight past my parents.
I expect that the same type of concentration that causes people to miss the gorilla.
I missed the gorilla the first time I saw this, too (it was a different video, but similar concept). I didn’t think that was entirely fair - don’t tell me to look at only one thing, then give me a hard time because I wasn’t looking at the other thing!
For the record, I think I have perfectly normal concentration/observational abilities.
This is the first time I missed. Knowing what was coming I focused directly on the players in white and their passes, and managed not to get distracted by anything else. I had to replay it to see the gorilla. Every other time I noticed the gorilla almost immediately. It’s just the way I look at things, it’s typical for me to scan over something initially then go back and focus on the detail. I assume others are better in focusing on the details initially.
I have ADHD, of course I noticed the gorilla. What I didn’t do is have any idea in hell how many times the ball got passed.
I somehow managed to count the correct number of passes, and during the gorilla’s movement off the screen, I noticed it. I was very confused as to why there was a gorilla until after the video.
[without reading any other responses or the spoiler box]
I counted 14, but I suspected I missed one pass early. It was kind of hard at first to keep straight what was going on.
Yes, I did see the gorilla, although I only noticed when he was already standing in the middle of the screen.
I also had immediately thought, when I first saw the thread title, “There will be a gorilla.” But I did forget about that when I was trying to count the passes.
I’ve come to the conclusion (especially after the recent shooting issues in the news) that this video ought to be played with the full ‘count the passes’ spiel in every courtroom right before the jury goes out to find a verdict.
Eye witness testimony is notoriously bad. This proves it well.
Slee
After reading the other responses, I’ll add that I have never seen this video before. It seems whenever people want to test whether people will notice some out of the ordinary, they put someone in a gorilla suit.
Also, after reading *Idle Thoughts post 8, it’s possible I missed the one pass when I was distracted by the gorilla, not a pass at the beginning.
ETA: Will ZenBeam notice he opened with a Bold tag, but closed with an Italic tag? Apparently not when viewing his post the first time…
I counted 13…
I saw the gorilla, but I undercounted the number of passes (I waited for a couple of passes for the white team to steal the ball before I noticed that both teams had a ball).
How come they never call traveling anymore?