As we begin to discuss the topic of perception, I thought the class would like this site from NOVA that highlights the concept of change blindness. As a favorite of hidden camera shows, a great example of change blindness is switching the person one is having a conversation with and seeing if they notice. Take a look at the video linked here and let me know what you think. Would you be fooled?
Change Blindness
- Posted 01.27.11
- NOVA scienceNOW
Psychologists who study the fascinating phenomenon of change blindness know that merely looking at something is not the same as actively paying attention to it. As the demonstration in this video shows, people can be blind to significant changes in a visual scene that are obvious to someone who expects that these changes are going to happen.
Change blindness is particularly likely to occur when there is an interruption in the scene (say, a large board being carried by) or when a person is focused on another task (say, pondering street directions). For more intriguing demonstrations, see
this website maintained by psychologist J. Kevin O'Regan, one of the first scientists to describe the phenomenon.
There's a great clip on the show "Lie to Me" about change blindness
ReplyDeleteI can't be certain due to the fact that you never know how you will react to specific situations, but I believe I could be fooled, it's easy to ignore observations like clothes, hair, etc. especially as you're on a busy street and you're mind is already ignoring everyone else's clothes, etc. also when it is someone we don't know or regularly see, its easy to forget things about them- especially appearance.
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