Inattentional Blindness Psychology Definition & Examples of Inattentional Blindness.

Inattentional Blindness Psychology Definition

What is Inattentional Blindness

Inattentional blindness refers to a person’s inability to notice objects or events that are evident when looking directly at them. It is a phenomenon in which the brain fails to perceive stimuli present in plain sight consciously.

This effect happens when people try to focus on one particular task, and their attention becomes limited as they become fixated on it.

In some cases, such fixation can lead to both eyes viewing something simultaneously, but only one of them will be processed by the brain.

It is commonly seen among drivers who fail to see pedestrians in plain sight.

This type of blindness occurs because people often focus their attention on one thing while ignoring others nearby. Inattentional Blindness can also be referred to as “unconscious neglect” because it is not intentional but rather habitual and mostly unconscious too.

Daniel Simons Sustained Inattentional Blindness

Daniel Simons of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is best known for their experiments on change of blindness and inattentional blindness.

He has been interested in the topic of visual perception for some time. It was important to him to investigate whether or not humans have the capacity to perceive more than they are able, at any given point hence the term ‘Inattentional Blindness.’

Inattentional Blindness is a phenomenon in which people can see objects or events that they are not consciously aware of.

This phenomenon has been studied by other psychologists and results from selective attention, where we only focus on certain aspects of our environment while ignoring others.

Inattentional Blindness Gorilla Experiment

Inattentional blindness occurs when someone focuses too closely on one thing and becomes oblivious to everything else around them. This condition was recently highlighted in an experiment by Daniel Simons of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Christopher Chabris of Union College.

In their study, participants were asked to watch a short video about basketball passing while counting how many passes were made by players wearing white shirts versus those wearing black shirts.

The results showed that most people who participated did not notice gorilla walking across the screen as they focused on counting passes.

Causes of inattentional blindness. Why Does inattentional blindness occur?

Inattentional blindness is a phenomenon in which people do not notice stimuli present or fail to see them as important.

The causes of inattentional blindness can include the nature of the stimulus, environmental factors such as attention span and motivation, and cognitive limits.

The effects of inattentional blindness are wide-ranging; they range from minor inconveniences to life-threatening situations.

Inattentional blindness is a form of attention deficit disorder. It occurs when someone does not pay enough attention to the task at hand and fails to notice an unexpected stimulus in their field of vision.

The stimuli can be anything from a person, object, or event. This type of blindness is often caused by people who are distracted while driving or watching TV.

Inattentional Blindness Driving

Inattentional blindness driving is a cognitive skill that allows drivers to process information while they drive. It involves the ability to focus on one thing, such as the road and other vehicles while ignoring distractions in your peripheral vision.

Both children and adults who are learning how to drive can use this skill well before they can actually drive independently.

This could be because of their enhanced visual skills from an increased amount of time spent focusing on things outside their immediate range of sight, like trees or flowers near where they live.

If you are looking straight ahead and not paying attention to your surroundings when driving, you may fail to notice something that is directly in front of your car, such as a pedestrian or another vehicle.

Even though most drivers have heard about this phenomenon before, many continue to drive distracted without considering how it might affect their awareness while operating their vehicles.

Implications and effects of inattentional blindness

Inattentional blindness is the inability to see something in plain sight. It can be caused by a lack of attention or too much information on one side.

A case example;  the person was distracted by a cell phone conversation and did not notice an oncoming cyclist.
3. This can be dangerous as it could lead to accidents.

A study showed that people who are driving while talking on their cell phones miss seeing up to 50% of what’s happening around them.

How to Avoid or Prevent inattentional blindness

Here are some preventive measures for inattentional blindness;

• Reduce the number of distractions in your environment.
• Wear a safety vest to identify yourself as someone who is working on the job site.
• Create a system for what you need to do, and then work from that list instead of getting distracted with other tasks.
• Use landmarks or visual cues to help keep your attention focused on one task at a time.
• Be aware of your surroundings and Focus on a single task.
• Take regular breaks from the screen.
•  Avoid distractions in the environment. Avoid distractions by turning off notifications and social media alerts while working.
• Create an environment that is conducive to work, such as dimming lights or closing windows if you’re in a noisy area.
• Keep an eye out for other drivers on the road, and be prepared to stop if necessary.
•  Do not wear headphones or earbuds while driving.

Inattentional Blindness Vs. Change  Blindness

 What is the difference between inattentional blindness and change blindness?

Inattentional Blindness is a phenomenon in which people do not notice something they are looking at because their attention is focused elsewhere.

Change blindness refers to the inability to detect changes between two or more images, even when there are obvious differences between them. It has been found that individuals who are cognitively engaged (e.g., solving math problems) experience less change blindness than those who are distracted (e.g., reading a story).

Inattentional Blindness is a phenomenon that occurs when one’s attention is focused on a particular task while the surrounding environment remains unnoticed.

Change Blindness, also known as inattentional blindness, is an inability to detect changes in the visual field of view.

The two are similar because they involve missing something important because you’re not paying enough attention to your surroundings.

Inattentional Blindness In The Workplace

Inattentional blindness is a phenomenon where people are not aware of what they are looking at when there is something else in their field of vision.

An example of this would be if you were to walk by someone and notice that they’re wearing a shirt with your favorite band on it, but you don’t recognize them because they have different hair.

Selective Attention And  Inattentional Blindness

Selective attention is the ability to focus on one stimulus while ignoring others, whereas Inattentional blindness is the inability to see stimuli that are in plain sight.

Selective attention can be voluntary or involuntary, depending on whether it’s a conscious decision or not.

Inattentional blindness can affect people of all ages and backgrounds.

The two phenomena are related, but selective attention can be broken by external stimuli, whereas inattentional blindness cannot.

Examples of Inattentional Blindness

Inattentional blindness refers to a phenomenon where people cannot see an object in plain sight.  This can be due to the inability of attention or lack of visual information about what they should be looking for.

It’s not uncommon for people who experience this phenomenon to miss seeing something as simple as a gorilla walking through their living room, even when it’s right in front of them! Here are examples of Inattentional blindness;

•  The most common example of this phenomenon is when someone walks across a busy street and doesn’t notice the car coming at them because they are looking down at their phone.
• Not noticing that there is someone else right next to you or forgetting what you were doing.
• When someone walks down the street and doesn’t notice a friend standing right next to them, they focus on something else.
•  Other examples include: driving and not noticing a stop sign or reading a book while eating lunch without realizing you spilled food all over your clothes.