Inattentional blindness, also called perceptual blindness, is the failure to notice a fully visible but unexpected object or event because attention is engaged elsewhere, rather than because of any defect in vision itself. It demonstrates that focused attention, not simply an object being in the visual field, is what is required for conscious perception. The psychologists Arien Mack and Irvin Rock coined the term in 1992 and gave it systematic experimental study, publishing their findings in a 1998 book; the effect was later popularized by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris's 1999 selective-attention test, in which observers counting basketball passes commonly failed to notice a person in a gorilla suit walking through the scene.
Facts
Core ClaimPeople can fail to consciously perceive a fully visible, unexpected object or event when their attention is focused on something else, even while looking directly at it. 1 First Described Year Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Inattentional Blindness
Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
Inattentional blindness or perceptual blindness (rarely called inattentive blindness) occurs when an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus in plain sight because their attention is focused elsewhere, rather than any vision defects or deficits.
1. Wikipedia: Inattentional Blindness
Wikimedia FoundationHistory section, Mack and Rock coinage
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