100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People, 2nd Edition

8 People can Miss Changes in their Visual Fields

Spoiler alert

If you haven’t seen what is famously called the “gorilla video,” then you should check out the first video on my blog: www.blog.theteamw.com/2009/10/25/100-things-you-should-know-about-people-1-inattention-blindness/. Take the Selective Attention Test. If you don’t do this now, then I will spoil the effect for you below as I discuss the video.

The “gorilla video” is an example of inattention blindness or change blindness. The idea is that people often miss large changes in their visual fields. This has been shown in many experiments, although the basketball/gorilla experiment ...