If a gorilla passes while concentrating on a task, do you think you will notice?
In 1999, two Harvard University researchers carried out a study whose goal of the participants was very simple: to count basketball passes, in a video showed. But Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris didn’t want to find out if participants knew how to tell.
In the scenario of the video in question, in addition to basketball balls, it passed, from side to side, gorilla -dressed. Surprisingly, about half of the participants did not notice the peculiarity.
That of Simons and Chabris demonstrated how concentration in a task can blind us regarding parallel and unexpected events in our visual field.
Not quite
After 25 years, the invisible gorilla goes through the world of science again – and, apparently, theory may not be as absolute as it was thought earlier.
Inspired by personal experience and other studies, Ian Phillipsfrom Johns Hopkins University, decided to review this phenomenon. Your team has conducted five experiments with more than 25,000 participants to try to determine whether inattention blindness totally blocks perception or if people can still process unnoticed objects.
In one of the experiments, the participants looked at Cruzes flashing in a screen and had to say which of the arms of the cross (horizontal or vertical) was longer. On the fourth attempt, an red line appeared unexpectedly on the screen side.
Although only 71% of participants reported noticing the red line when asked directly, 87% correctly identified their location when requested. Even among those who denied having seen it, 64% selected the right side-far above the 50% probability level, according to the study in Biorxiv.
The results, according to, are repeated in the other experiences performed, suggesting that people can partially process unexpected objects, even when they are unaware of them.
Phillips believes that the results show a report: Participants may hesitate to say they have noticed something if they are not confident enough. This reluctance can be exceeded through specific formation, especially in professions where the omission of critical details can have serious consequences.
Phillips stresses that the study does not refute blindness by inattention, but improves the understanding of the functioning of attention. Although concentrated tasks continue to consume most cognitive resources, people can maintain a slight perception of unexpected stimuli.
